Method For Manufacturing A Food Product, A Food Product Produced By A Food Product Manufacturing System, And Food Product Manufacturing System

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing a food product includes depositing a first foodstuff; transporting the first foodstuff in a first driven direction; depositing a second foodstuff upon a portion of an upper surface of the first foodstuff; transporting the first foodstuff with the second foodstuff deposited thereupon in the first driven direction; separating the first foodstuff with the second foodstuff metered thereupon into a plurality of sheet segments; serially transporting each sheet segment of the plurality of sheet segments from the first driven direction to a second driven direction that is transverse to the first driven direction; compressing the serially transported sheet segments for forming a plurality of thickness segments including the first foodstuff and the second foodstuff that define an elongated, food product body; separating the elongated, food product body into a plurality of food product body units; and finishing the plurality of food product body units.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application 62/269,291, filed on Dec. 18, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a food product, a food product produced by a food product manufacturing system, and a food product manufacturing system.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure and is not necessarily prior art.

Food product manufacturing systems are known, and are used to manufacture certain pastries and baked goods. For example, food product manufacturing systems can be used to manufacture food products that include multiple layers of foodstuff. In some examples, food product manufacturing systems can be used to roll, stack, and/or fold various layers of foodstuff in order to manufacture a food product. While existing food product manufacturing systems perform adequately for their intended purpose, improvements to food product manufacturing systems are continuously being sought in order to advance the arts.

SUMMARY

In one configuration, a method for manufacturing a food product is provided and includes: metering a first foodstuff deposit; transporting the first foodstuff deposit in a first driven direction; metering a second foodstuff deposit upon a portion of an upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit as the first foodstuff deposit is transported in the first driven direction; transporting the first foodstuff deposit with the second foodstuff deposit metered thereupon in the first driven direction; separating the first foodstuff deposit with the second foodstuff deposit metered thereupon into a plurality of sheet segments; serially transporting each sheet segment of the plurality of sheet segments from the first driven direction to a second driven direction that is orthogonal to the first driven direction such that a portion of the second foodstuff deposit of a sheet segment that was previously serially transported from the first driven direction to the second driven direction is at least partially encapsulated by opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit defined by: a first foodstuff deposit of a sheet segment that supports the second foodstuff deposit that was previously serially transported from the first driven direction to the second driven direction and a first foodstuff deposit of a sheet segment that was immediately subsequently serially transported from the first driven direction to the second driven direction; compressing the serially transported sheet segments including the portion of the second foodstuff deposit that is at least partially encapsulated by the opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit for forming a plurality of thickness segments including the first foodstuff deposit and the second foodstuff deposit that define an elongated, pre-baked food product body; separating the elongated, pre-baked food product body into a plurality of pre-baked food product body units; and finishing the plurality of pre-baked food product body units.

In one configuration, the forming the plurality of thickness segments that define the pre-baked food product body may additionally include: forming a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit; forming a second thickness segment defined by approximately one uninterrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit; and forming a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit.

In another configuration, the first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the pre-baked food product body and the third thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the pre-baked food product body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment.

In yet another configuration, the forming the plurality of thickness segments that define the pre-baked food product body includes: forming a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit; forming a second thickness segment defined by, in part, by approximately one interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit; and forming a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit. The second foodstuff deposit defining the second thickness segment is interrupted with portions of the first foodstuff deposit extending into the second thickness segment from one or both of the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment.

In some configurations, the first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the pre-baked food product body and the third thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the pre-baked food product body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment.

In one configuration, the forming the plurality of thickness segments that define the pre-baked food product body includes: forming a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit; forming a second thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit; forming a third thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit; and forming a fourth thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit.

In another configuration, the first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the pre-baked food product body and the fourth thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the pre-baked food product body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment. The third thickness segment is disposed between the second thickness segment and the fourth thickness segment.

In yet another configuration, the forming the plurality of thickness segments that define the pre-baked food product body includes: forming a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit; forming a second thickness segment defined by, in part, by approximately one interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit; forming a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit; forming a fourth thickness segment defined by, in part, by approximately one interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit; and forming a fifth thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit.

In some configurations, the second foodstuff deposit defining the second thickness segment is interrupted with portions of the first foodstuff deposit extending into the second thickness segment from one or both of the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment. The second foodstuff deposit defining the fourth thickness segment is interrupted with portions of the first foodstuff deposit extending into the fourth thickness segment from one or both of the third thickness segment and the fifth thickness segment. The first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the pre-baked food product body and wherein the fifth thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the pre-baked food product body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment. The third thickness segment is disposed between the second thickness segment and the fourth thickness segment. The fourth thickness segment is disposed between the third thickness segment and the fifth thickness segment.

In one configuration, prior to the metering the second foodstuff deposit upon the portion of the upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit step, the method may additionally include: selectively arranging a second foodstuff dispenser over a portion of a width of a first foodstuff supporting surface for metering the second foodstuff deposit upon the portion of the upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit in the form of at least one strip.

In another configuration, the at least one strip of the second foodstuff deposit includes one strip. The one strip of the second foodstuff deposit is defined by a width that is less than a width of the first foodstuff deposit.

In yet another configuration, the metering the second foodstuff deposit upon the portion of the upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit step may additionally include: flowing the second foodstuff deposit without any interruption such that that one strip of the second foodstuff deposit defines an uninterrupted strip.

In some configurations, the metering the second foodstuff deposit upon the portion of the upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit may additional include: periodically interrupting a flow of the second foodstuff deposit such that that one strip of the second foodstuff deposit defines an interrupted strip.

In one configuration, the width of the one strip of the second foodstuff deposit is approximately equal to one-third of the width of the first foodstuff deposit.

In another configuration, the width of the one strip of the second foodstuff deposit is approximately equal to one-fifth of the width of the first foodstuff deposit.

In yet another configuration, the one strip of the second foodstuff deposit is metered upon the portion of the upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit at a distance away from a leading edge of the first foodstuff deposit.

In some configurations, the distance away from the leading edge of the first foodstuff deposit is approximately equal to one-fourth of the width of the first foodstuff deposit.

In one configuration, the at least one strip of the second foodstuff deposit includes one strip. The one strip of the second foodstuff deposit is defined by a width that is approximately equal to half of a width of the first foodstuff deposit.

In another configuration, the one strip of the second foodstuff deposit that is metered upon the portion of the upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit is aligned with and extends from a leading edge of the first foodstuff deposit.

In yet another configuration, the at least one strip of the second foodstuff deposit includes a first strip and a second strip. Each of the first strip and the second strip of the second foodstuff deposit are each defined by a width that is less than a width of the first foodstuff deposit.

In some configurations, the width of each of the first strip and the second strip of the second foodstuff deposit is approximately equal to one-fifth of the width of the first foodstuff deposit.

In one configuration, prior to metering the second foodstuff deposit upon the portion of an upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit, the method may additionally include: forming a second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel in the upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit.

In another configuration, the metering the second foodstuff deposit upon the portion of an upper surface of the first foodstuff deposit includes: metering the second foodstuff deposit into the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel.

In yet another configuration, the method may also include: entirely filling the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel with the second foodstuff deposit.

In some configurations, the method may also include partially filling the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel with the second foodstuff deposit.

In one configuration, the method may also include: over-filling the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel with the second foodstuff deposit.

An article of food is also provided. The article of food includes a body having a first foodstuff deposit and a second foodstuff deposit. At least a portion of the second foodstuff deposit is at least partially encapsulated by opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit for defining the body to include a plurality of thickness segments defined by at least three thickness segments.

In one configuration, the plurality of thickness segments include: a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit, a second thickness segment defined by approximately one uninterrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit, and a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit.

In another configuration, the first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the body. The third thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment.

In yet another configuration, the plurality of thickness segments include: a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit, a second thickness segment defined by, in part, by approximately one interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit, and a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit.

In some configurations, the second foodstuff deposit defining the second thickness segment is interrupted with portions of the first foodstuff deposit extending into the second thickness segment from one or both of the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment.

In one configuration, the first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the body. The third thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment.

In another configuration, the plurality of thickness segments include: a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit, a second thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit, a third thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit, and a fourth thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit.

In yet another configuration, the first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the body. The fourth thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment. The third thickness segment is disposed between the second thickness segment and the fourth thickness segment.

In some configurations, the plurality of thickness segments include: a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit, a second thickness segment defined by, in part, by approximately one interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit, a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit, a fourth thickness segment defined by, in part, by approximately one interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit, and a fifth thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit.

In one configuration, the second foodstuff deposit defining the second thickness segment is interrupted with portions of the first foodstuff deposit extending into the second thickness segment from one or both of the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment. The second foodstuff deposit defining the fourth thickness segment is interrupted with portions of the first foodstuff deposit extending into the fourth thickness segment from one or both of the third thickness segment and the fifth thickness segment.

In another configuration, the first thickness segment is an uppermost segment of the body. The fifth thickness segment is a lowermost segment of the body. The second thickness segment is disposed between the first thickness segment and the third thickness segment. The third thickness segment is disposed between the second thickness segment and the fourth thickness segment. The fourth thickness segment is disposed between the third thickness segment and the fifth thickness segment.

In yet another configuration, the body is baked to form a food product defined by a cookie, cracker, or bread.

In some configurations, the first foodstuff deposit includes dough.

In one configuration, the second foodstuff deposit includes one or more of a filling, a food coloring and a vitamin supplement.

A first of two portions of a food product manufacturing system is provided and includes: a first conveyor, a first foodstuff deposit hopper, a second foodstuff deposit hopper and a first slicing blade. The first conveyor has a proximal end and a distal end. The first foodstuff deposit hopper is located near the proximal end of the first conveyor and is arranged over a portion of a foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the first conveyor. The second foodstuff deposit hopper is located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper and upstream of the distal end of the first conveyor. The second foodstuff deposit hopper is selectively spatially arranged over a portion but not all of a width of the belt of the first conveyor defining the foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the first conveyor. The first slicing blade is located downstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper and upstream of the distal end of the first conveyor. The first slicing blade is arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the first conveyor.

In one configuration, the first of the two portions of the food product manufacturing system may also include a foodstuff channel-forming member located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper and upstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper. The foodstuff channel-forming member is aligned with the second foodstuff deposit hopper such that the foodstuff channel-forming member is selectively spatially arranged over a portion but not all of a width of the belt of the first conveyor. The foodstuff channel-forming member is arranged at a distance away from the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the first conveyor.

In another configuration, the first foodstuff hopper includes a sidewall defining a foodstuff-containing cavity. Access to the foodstuff-containing cavity is permitted by an upper opening and a lower opening. The first foodstuff hopper includes a pair of metering rollers that are arranged about the lower opening.

In yet another configuration, the second foodstuff hopper includes a foodstuff metering valve.

In some configurations, the first slicing blade is connected to an actuator.

In one configuration, the belt of the first conveyor is rotatably supported by a proximal roller located at the proximal end of the first conveyor and a distal roller located at the distal end of the first conveyor.

A second of the two portions of the food product manufacturing system is also provided and includes: a second conveyor. The second conveyor has a proximal end and a distal end. The second conveyor is orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor. The proximal end of the second conveyor is arranged proximate the distal end of the first conveyor. A first plane aligned with and extending across the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the first conveyor is located spatially above a second plane aligned with and extending across a foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the second conveyor. The second plane is located spatially below the first plane. A driven direction of the belt of the first conveyor is orthogonal to a driven direction of the belt of the second conveyor.

In one configuration, the second of the two portions of the food product manufacturing system may also include: one or more pairs of compression rollers arranged about the belt of the second conveyor. The one or more pairs of compression rollers is/are located near the proximal end of the second conveyor and downstream of a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor that is aligned with the width of the belt of the first conveyor.

In another configuration, each pair compression rollers of the one or more pairs of compression rollers includes: an upper compression roller and a lower compression roller. The lower compression roller is arranged adjacent the belt of the second conveyor. A surface of the belt of the second conveyor that the lower compression roller is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor. The upper compression roller is arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor. A gap or spacing between the upper compression roller and the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor is defined by a distance.

In yet another configuration, the one or more pairs of compression rollers includes more than one pairs of compression rollers. The distance between the upper compression roller and the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor of adj acent pairs of compression rollers of the more than one pairs of compression rollers progressively decreases in dimension.

In some configurations, the second of the two portions of the food product manufacturing system may also include: a second slicing blade. The second slicing blade is located downstream of the one or more pairs of compression rollers and upstream of the distal end of the second conveyor. The second slicing blade is arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor.

In one configuration, the second slicing blade is connected to an actuator.

In another configuration, the second of the two portions of the food product manufacturing system may also include: an oven located downstream of the second slicing blade and upstream of the distal end of the second conveyor. The oven is arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor.

In yet another configuration, the belt of the second conveyor is rotatably supported by a proximal roller located at the proximal end of the second conveyor and a distal roller located at the distal end of the second conveyor.

The details of one or more implementations of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a side view of a portion of an exemplary food product manufacturing system.

FIG. 1B is a top view of the portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a top view of another portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2B is a side view of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 3 of FIG. 2B.

FIG. 4A is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 4A of FIG. 3 .

FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits defining a pre-baked food product body and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 4B of FIG. 3 .

FIG. 5A is a side view of a portion of an exemplary food product manufacturing system.

FIG. 5B is a top view of the portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5B′ is a cross-sectional view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 5B′-5B′ of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5B″ is a cross-sectional view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 5B″-5B″ of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5B‴ is a cross-sectional view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 5B‴-5B‴ of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 6A is a top view of another portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6B is a side view of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 7 of FIG. 6B.

FIG. 8A is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 8A of FIG. 7 .

FIG. 8B is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits defining a pre-baked food product body and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 8B of FIG. 7 .

FIG. 9A is a side view of a portion of an exemplary food product manufacturing system.

FIG. 9B is a top view of the portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 10A is a top view of another portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 10B is a side view of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 11 of FIG. 10B.

FIG. 12A is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 12A of FIG. 11 .

FIG. 12B is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits defining a pre-baked food product body and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 12B of FIG. 11 .

FIG. 13A is a side view of a portion of an exemplary food product manufacturing system.

FIG. 13B is a top view of the portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 14A is a top view of another portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 14B is a side view of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 14A.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 15 of FIG. 14B.

FIG. 16A is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 16A of FIG. 15 .

FIG. 16B is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits defining a pre-baked food product body and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 16B of FIG. 15 .

FIG. 17A is a side view of a portion of an exemplary food product manufacturing system.

FIG. 17B is a top view of the portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 17A.

FIG. 18A is a top view of another portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 17A.

FIG. 18B is a side view of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 18A.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 19 of FIG. 18B.

FIG. 20A is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 20A of FIG. 19 .

FIG. 20B is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits defining a pre-baked food product body and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 20B of FIG. 19 .

FIG. 21A is a side view of a portion of an exemplary food product manufacturing system.

FIG. 21B is a top view of the portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 21A.

FIG. 22A is a top view of another portion of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 21A.

FIG. 22B is a side view of the food product manufacturing system of FIG. 22A.

FIG. 23 is an enlarged view of a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 23 of FIG. 22B.

FIG. 24A is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 24A of FIG. 23 .

FIG. 24B is an enlarged view of a plurality of layers of first and second foodstuff deposits defining a pre-baked food product body and a portion of the food product manufacturing system according to line 24B of FIG. 23 .

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example configurations will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example configurations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. Specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of configurations of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example configurations may be embodied in many different forms, and that the specific details and the example configurations should not be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary configurations only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular articles “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. Additional or alternative steps may be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” “attached to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected, attached, or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” “directly attached to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections. These elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example configurations.

A food product (e.g., cookies, crackers, bread or the like) that is manufactured by a food product manufacturing system may include several layers of a first foodstuff deposit (e.g., dough) that at least partially encapsulates a second foodstuff deposit (e.g., a filling, such as, for example, a fruit filling, a food coloring, a supplement, such as, for example, a vitamin supplement, or the like). The food product manufacturing system may include a first conveyor and a second conveyor; the second conveyor may be orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor. The food product manufacturing system may further include but is not limited to including: a first foodstuff deposit hopper arranged over the first conveyor, a foodstuff channel-forming member arranged about the first conveyor, a second foodstuff deposit hopper arranged over the first conveyor, a first slicing blade arranged over the first conveyor, one or more pairs of compression rollers arranged about the second conveyor, a second slicing blade arranged over the second conveyor and an oven arranged about the second conveyor.

As will be described in more detail herein, the food product manufacturing systems, including the configuration of the first and second conveyors, the first and/or second foodstuff deposit hoppers, the first and/or second slicing blades, and/or the one or more pairs of compression rollers, provides an efficient and versatile system and process for manufacturing a multi-layered food product. In particular, the food product manufacturing systems and methods described herein reduce the amount of time required for making a multi-layered food product by allowing for the concurrent deposition of multiple layers of second foodstuff and the concurrent deposition of multiple types of second foodstuff. Accordingly, the food product manufacturing systems and methods allow for the efficient manufacture of a food product having a variety of colors, flavors, textures, and/or nutrients, for example.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1B and 2A-2B, an exemplary food product manufacturing system is shown generally at 10. FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate a first portion of the food product manufacturing system 10. FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate a second portion of the food product manufacturing system 10. The food product manufacturing system 10 is hereinafter referred to as “the system.”

The system 10 manufactures a food product F (see, e.g., FIGS. 2A-2B). In some configurations, the food product F may include a baked food product. Accordingly, the food product F may be referred to herein as a baked food product F; however, it will be appreciated that the food product F may include other types of food products within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the food product F may include a fried food product F, a roasted food product F, a toasted food product F, a freeze dried food product F, a cold set food product F, and/or a dehydrated food product F.

The baked food product F is derived from at least a first foodstuff deposit D1 (see, e.g., FIGS. 1A, 1B) and a second foodstuff deposit D2 (see, e.g., FIGS. 1A, 1B). The baked food product F may be defined by several layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (e.g., approximately three layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4A) and at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (e.g. approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4A). At least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The first foodstuff deposit D1 may include a sheeted matrix such as dough, cereal, granola, and/or grains, for example. The second foodstuff deposit D2 may include a filling (such as, e.g., a fruit filling, spice(s), cream(s), salt, sugar, nuts, and/or cheese powder), a food coloring, a supplement (such as, e.g., a vitamin supplement) or the like.

As will be described in the following disclosure, the first foodstuff deposit D1 is metered in the form of an elongated sheet S (see, e.g., FIG. 1B). The second foodstuff deposit D2 is metered in the form of at least one strip ST (see, e.g., FIG. 1B) upon the elongated sheet S. The elongated sheet S including the at least one strip ST metered there-upon is subsequently divided into a plurality of sheet segments SS (see, e.g., FIG. 1B).

As seen in FIGS. 1A-1B, 2A-2B, the at least one strip ST metered upon the elongated sheet S is numerically defined to include one strip ST. Although one strip ST is metered upon the elongated sheet S according to the example described at FIGS. 1A-1B, 2A-2B, the at least one strip ST may be numerically defined to include more than one strip ST (see, e.g., FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B where a first strip ST1 and a second strip ST2 are metered upon an elongated sheet S). Therefore, the at least one strip ST may include any desirable number of strips ST such as, for example, one, two, three, fourth, five or “n” strips (whereby “n” is any integer).

Referring to FIG. 1B, each sheet segment SS is defined by a length Lss. The elongated sheet S and each sheet segment SS is defined by a width Wss. Because each sheet segment SS is derived from the elongated sheet S, and, therefore, are each defined to include the same width dimension Wss, the reference numeral designating the width Wss of the sheet segment SS may be interchangeably utilized when describing the width of the elongated sheet S.

As seen in FIG. 1B, the at least one strip ST is defined by a width W_(ST). The width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is less than the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. In an example, the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST may be approximately equal to one-third of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS.

Furthermore, in order to realize the selective layering of the baked food product F described above at FIGS. 3 and 4A, whereby at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2, the at least one strip ST may be selectively metered upon the elongated sheet S at a distance away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. The distance away from the leading edge S_(LE) may be defined by a portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS. The portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS may be defined by a distance between the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S and a leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST. In an example, the distance (i.e., the portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS) between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS may be approximately equal to one-fourth of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the system 10 may include a first conveyor 12 a having a proximal end 12 a _(P) and a distal end 12 a _(D). The first conveyor 12 a may include a belt 14 a defined by a width 14 aw (see, e.g., FIG. 1B). The belt 14 a may be rotatably supported by a proximal roller 16 a (see, e.g., FIG. 1A) located at the proximal end 12 a _(P) of the first conveyor 12 a and a distal roller 18 a (see, e.g., FIG. 1A) located at the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a.

A motor 20 a (see, e.g., FIG. 1A) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a such that one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a may rotatably drive the belt 14 a according to the direction of arrow A1. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 14 a relative to the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a, a segment of the belt 14 a may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 22 a.

With reference to FIGS. 1A-1B and 2A-2B, the system 10 may include a second conveyor 12 b having a proximal end 12 b _(P) and a distal end 12 b _(D). The second conveyor 12 b may include a belt 14 b defined by a width 14 bw (see, e.g., FIG. 2A) that is rotatably supported by a proximal roller 16 b (see, e.g., FIG. 2B) located at the proximal end 12 b _(P) of the second conveyor 12 b and a distal roller 18 b (see, e.g., FIG. 2B) located at the distal end 12 b _(D) of the second conveyor 12 b.

A motor 20 b (see, e.g., FIG. 2B) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b such that one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b may rotatably drive the belt 14 b according to the direction of arrow A2. It will be appreciated that, in some configurations, the direction of arrow A2 may be opposite the direction of arrow A2 illustrated throughout the figures (see, e.g., FIGS. 1B and 2B). For example, the direction of arrow A2 may be offset by 180 degrees from the direction illustrated throughout the figures. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 14 b relative to the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b, a segment of the belt 14 b may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 22 b.

As seen in FIGS. 1B and 2A, the second conveyor 12 b may be transversely arranged with respect to the first conveyor 12 a. In an example configuration, the second conveyor 12 b is orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor 12 a. Accordingly, the driven direction A2 of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b may be orthogonal to the driven direction A1 of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a.

As seen in FIGS. 1A-1B and 2A, the proximal end 12 b _(P) of the second conveyor 12 b may be located near the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a. Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 2A, a portion 22 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b that may be located near the proximal end 12 b _(P) of the second conveyor 12 b may be approximately equal to and may be aligned with the width 14 aw of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a.

As seen in FIG. 1A, a first plane P1 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a. A second plane P2 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. The second plane P2: (1) may not intersect with the first plane P1, (2) may be substantially parallel to the first plane P1, and (3) may be located spatially below the first plane P1 (i.e., the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b may be located below the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a such that sheet segments SS are permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b as the sheet segments SS are transported upon the belt 14 a according to the direction of the arrow A1). As will be described in the following disclosure, by arranging the proximal end 12 b _(P) of the second conveyor 12 b near the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a, and, in conjunction with the arrangement the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b spatially below the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a, successive sheet segments SS may be transported from the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a to the proximal end 12 b _(P) of the second conveyor 12 b in a partially overlapped fashion in order to encapsulate at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as described above.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the system 10 may also include a first foodstuff deposit hopper 24. The first foodstuff hopper 24 may be located near the proximal end 12 a _(P) of the first conveyor 12 a and may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a. The first foodstuff hopper 24 may include a sidewall 26 defining a foodstuff-containing cavity 28. Access to the foodstuff-containing cavity 28 is permitted by an upper opening 30 and a lower opening 32. The first foodstuff hopper 24 may also include a pair of metering rollers 34 that are arranged about the lower opening 32.

Prior to being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a, the first foodstuff deposit D1 may be stowed within the foodstuff-containing cavity 28. The first foodstuff deposit D1 is evacuated out of the foodstuff-containing cavity 28 by way of the lower opening 32 of the first foodstuff hopper 24. The motor 20 a may be connected to the pair of metering rollers 34 to impart rotation to the pair of metering rollers 34 for metering the first foodstuff deposit D1 upon the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a at a controlled rate. The controlled metering rate of the first foodstuff deposit D1 in combination with a speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a rotatably driving the belt 14 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the first foodstuff deposit D1 being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D1).

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the system 10 may also include a second foodstuff deposit hopper 36. The second foodstuff hopper 36 is located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper 24 and upstream of the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a. The second foodstuff deposit hopper 36 may be arranged over a portion but not all of the width 14 aw of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a defining the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 metered from the first foodstuff hopper 24. The second foodstuff hopper 36 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a in order to meter the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 at the above-described distance (see, e.g., W_(SS-P)) away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. A metering rate of the second foodstuff deposit D2 from the second foodstuff hopper 36 may be determined by, for example: (1) the physical characteristics (e.g. viscosity) of the second foodstuff deposit D2, (2) an open / partially open state of a foodstuff metering valve 38 of the second foodstuff hopper 36 and (3) the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a rotatably driving the belt 14 a according to the direction of arrow A1. As such, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D2).

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the system 10 may also include a first slicing blade 40. The first slicing blade 40 may be located downstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper 36 and upstream of the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a. The first slicing blade 40 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon. The first slicing blade 40 is defined by a width W₄₀ (see, e.g., FIG. 1B) that may be greater than the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIG. 1A, an actuator 42 may be connected to the first slicing blade 40 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the first slicing blade 40 for causing the first slicing blade 40 to penetrate through both of the thickness T_(D1) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the thickness T_(D2) of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The periodic plunging motion of the first slicing bade 40 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a rotatably driving the belt 14 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the elongated sheet S defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon to be cut into a plurality of sheet segments SS with each sheet segment SS being defined by the length Lss.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a rotatably driving the belt 14 a according to the direction of arrow A1 serially transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a. Once each sheet segment SS reaches the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a, each sheet segment SS is permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a toward the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. The portion 22 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b that may be located near the proximal end 12 b _(P) of the second conveyor 12 b and aligned with the width 14 aw of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a at least partially directly receives each sheet segment SS from the distal end 12 a _(D) of the first conveyor 12 a.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b rotatably driving the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b according to the direction of arrow A2 transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 12 b _(D) of the second conveyor 12 b. As seen in FIG. 2B, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b rotatably driving the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b may be selectively controlled (and, in some instances, is referenced from the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 a and the distal roller 18 a rotatably driving the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a) in order to arrange: (1) a first portion of a rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b and (2) a second portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a over: the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a portion of an upper surface D1 _(U) of a first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. As a result, a portion of the sheet segment SS that was previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b may be partially laminated by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b in order to thereby entirely encapsulate the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 defined by: (a) the first foodstuff deposit D1 directly supporting the second foodstuff deposit D2 and the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. Furthermore, a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b is disposed over a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) first foodstuff deposit D1 that: (1) does not support the second foodstuff deposit D2 and (2) is not defined by the width Wss of each sheet segment SS between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the elongated strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIGS. 1B and 2A, regarding the encapsulation of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 described above, in an example, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b rotatably driving the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b may be selectively controlled in order to arrange a leading edge SS_(LE) of a sheet segment SS in the immediate process of being transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b at least directly over, or, alternatively, slightly ahead (as seen in FIGS. 2B and 3 ) of a leading edge ST_(LE) of a strip ST (defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2) of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. In this regard, the leading edge ST_(LE) of a strip ST of the sheet segment SS in the immediate process of being transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a may be aligned with, or slightly trail, a trailing edge of the strip ST of the sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a. It will be appreciated that if, as discussed above, the direction of arrow A2 is opposite the direction of arrow A2 illustrated throughout the figures, the leading edges ST_(LE) and SS_(LE) of the strip ST and the sheet segment SS, respectively, may become trailing edges. Regardless of the direction of arrow A2 (i.e., as illustrated or a direction opposite the illustrated direction), the strip ST of each sheet segment SS that had been previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b is covered by a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was subsequently deposited thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the system 10 may also include one or more pairs of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) arranged about the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. If more than one pair of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) are included in the system 10, the more than one pair of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) may be referred to as a plurality of compression rollers 44. The one or more pairs of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) arranged about the second conveyor 12 b may be located near the proximal end 12 b _(P) of the second conveyor 12 b and downstream of the portion 22 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b that is aligned with the width 14 aw of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a.

Each pair compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) includes an upper compression roller 44 _(U) and a lower compression roller 44 _(L). The lower compression roller 44 _(L) may be arranged adjacent the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. The surface of the belt 14 b that the lower compression roller 44 _(L) is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b.

The upper compression roller 44 _(U) may be arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. A gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 44 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b is defined by a distance (see, e.g., D₄₄₋ i, D₄₄₋₁... D_(44-n)). When more than one pair of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) are included in the system 10, the distance D₄₄₋₁, D₄₄₋₁... D_(44-n) defining the gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 44 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b for each successive pair of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) may progressively decrease in dimension.

As one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b rotatably drives the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through the gaps or spacings defined by the distance D₄₄₋₁, D₄₄₋₁... D_(44-n). Because the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are defined by a height dimension that may be approximately equal to but slightly greater than the gap or spacing defined by the first distance D₄₄₋₁ associated with the first pair of compression rollers 44 ₁, the upper compression roller 44 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 44 ₁ directly engages the upper surface D1 _(U) (defined by a first foodstuff deposit D1) of each sheet segment SS of the partially overlapped sheet segments SS for compressing the partially overlapped sheet segments SS between the upper compression roller 44 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 44 ₁ and the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b. As the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through one or more subsequent gaps (e.g., D₄₄₋₁... D_(44-n)) that progressively decrease in dimension, the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are further compressed in a substantially similar manner as described above.

As a result of being passed through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) described above, most or all of the voids V (see, e.g., FIG. 4A) between opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (i.e., defined by a gap or spacing between a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of an adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1) are negated as a result of the one or more pairs of compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) compressing and thereby vertically shifting the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V. When the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is vertically shifted, the portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of the adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1 bind together. Furthermore, as the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is shifted into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS is similarly vertically displaced into an area previously spatially occupied by the underlying (and vertically shifted) first foodstuff deposit D1. As the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS is shifted, the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS ultimately appears to merge into a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2. After passing through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n), the sheet segments SS are integrated into an elongated, pre-baked food product body B (see, e.g., FIGS. 2A-2B, 4B).

The elongated, pre-baked food product body B is generally defined by: (1) a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, (2) a second thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 and (3) a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1. As seen in FIG. 4B, a rear surface of the third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 is supported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the system 10 may also include a second slicing blade 46. The second slicing blade 46 may be located downstream of the one or more compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n) and upstream of the distal end 12 b _(D) of the second conveyor 12 b. The second slicing blade 46 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b that supports the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The second slicing blade 46 is defined by a width W₄₆ (see, e.g., FIG. 2A) that may be greater than a width W_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 2A) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B.

Referring to FIG. 2B, an actuator 48 may be connected to the second slicing blade 46 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the second slicing blade 46 for causing the second slicing blade 46 to penetrate through a thickness T_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 2B) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The periodic plunging motion of the second slicing bade 46 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b rotatably driving the belt 14 b according to the direction of arrow A2 results in the elongated, pre-baked food product body B being cut into a plurality of pre-baked food product body units U having any desirable shape, size or dimension.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the system 10 may also include a finishing apparatus, such as an oven 50. The oven 50 may be located downstream of the second slicing blade 46 and upstream of the distal end 12 b _(D) of the second conveyor 12 b. The oven 50 is arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface 22 b of the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b that supports the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U. As one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b rotatably drives the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U are passed through the oven 50 in order to bake the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U. It will be appreciated that, while the finishing apparatus is shown and described herein as being an oven 50, the finishing apparatus may include other configurations within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the finishing apparatus may include an apparatus that fries, roasts, freeze dries, cold sets, toasts, and/or dehydrates. In this regard, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U may be passed through the finishing apparatus in order to fry, roast, freeze dry, cold set, toast and/or dehydrate the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U.

Upon the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U exiting the oven 50 according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U may then be referred to as baked food products F. As one or both of the proximal roller 16 b and the distal roller 18 b rotatably drives the belt 14 b of the second conveyor 12 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the baked food products F may fall with the assistance of gravity off of the distal end 12 b _(D) of the second conveyor 12 b for subsequent processing or packaging.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1B, 2A-2B, the system 10 may also include a controller 52. The controller 52 may be a computing resource such as, for example, a digital computer, and may include, but is not limited to: one or more electronic digital processors or central processing units (CPUs) in communication with one or more storage resources (e.g., memory, flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase change memory (PCM), and/or disk drives having spindles).

The controller 52 may be communicatively coupled (i.e., wirelessly connected or hardwired) to any of the above-described components (e.g., components 20 a, 20 b, 34, 38, 42, 44, 48, 50) of the system 10 in order to control any of the components. For example, the controller 52 may control the motors 20 a / 20 b for controlling the rate of rotation of the one or both of the proximal roller 16 a / 16 b and the distal roller 18 a / 18 b that rotatably drives the belt 14 a / 14 b of the first conveyor 12 a / the second conveyor 12 b. In another example, the controller 52 may control the rotation of the pair of metering rollers 34 in order to control the rate of the amount of the first foodstuff deposit D1 being metered upon the foodstuff receiving surface 22 a of the belt 14 a of the first conveyor 12 a. In yet another example, the controller 52 may control an open / partially open / closed state of the foodstuff metering valve 38 of the second foodstuff hopper 36 in order to control the rate of the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1. In an example, the controller 52 may control the state of the actuator 42 / 48 for controlling the frequency of the periodic plunging motion of the first slicing blade 40 / the second slicing blade 46. In another example, the controller 52 may control the motor 20 b for controlling a rate of rotation of one or more of the upper compression roller 44 _(U) and the lower compression roller 44 _(L) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 44 ₁, 44 ₂...44 _(n). In yet another example, the controller 52 may control the on state, off state and/or temperature of the oven 50.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B and 6A-6B, an exemplary food product manufacturing system is shown generally at 100. FIGS. 5A-5B illustrates a first portion of the food product manufacturing system 100. FIGS. 6A-6B illustrates a second portion of the food product manufacturing system 100. The food product manufacturing system 100 is hereinafter referred to as “the system.”

The system 100 manufactures a baked food product F (see, e.g., FIGS. 6A-6B). The baked food product F is derived from at least a first foodstuff deposit D1 (see, e.g., FIGS. 5A, 5B) and a second foodstuff deposit D2 (see, e.g., FIGS. 5A, 5B). The baked food product F may be defined by several layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (e.g., approximately three layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as seen in FIGS. 7 and 8A) and at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (e.g. approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 as seen in FIGS. 7 and 8A). At least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The first foodstuff deposit D1 may include dough. The second foodstuff deposit D2 may include a filling (such as, e.g., a fruit filling), a food coloring, a supplement (such as, e.g., a vitamin supplement) or the like.

As will be described in the following disclosure, the first foodstuff deposit D1 is metered in the form of an elongated sheet S (see, e.g., FIG. 5B). The second foodstuff deposit D2 is metered in the form of at least one strip ST (see, e.g., FIG. 5B) upon the elongated sheet S. The elongated sheet S including the at least one strip ST metered there-upon is subsequently divided into a plurality of sheet segments SS (see, e.g., FIG. 5B).

As seen in FIGS. 5A-5B, 6A-6B, the at least one strip ST metered upon the elongated sheet S is numerically defined to include one strip ST. Although one strip ST is metered upon the elongated sheet S according to the example described at FIGS. 5A-5B, 6A-6B, the at least one strip ST may be numerically defined to include more than one strip ST (see, e.g., FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B where a first strip ST1 and a second strip ST2 are metered upon an elongated sheet S). Therefore, the at least one strip ST may include any desirable number of strips ST such as, for example, one, two, three, fourth, five or “n” strips (whereby “n” is any integer).

Referring to FIG. 5B, each sheet segment SS is defined by a length Lss. The elongated sheet S and each sheet segment SS is defined by a width Wss. Because each sheet segment SS is derived from the elongated sheet S, and, therefore, are each defined to include the same width dimension Wss, the reference numeral designating the width Wss of the sheet segment SS may be interchangeably utilized when describing the width of the elongated sheet S.

As seen in FIG. 5B, the at least one strip ST is defined by a width W_(ST). The width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is less than the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. As discussed in more detail below, the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST may relate to a number of aligned layers L (FIG. 6B) formed by the sheet segments SS and the at least one strip ST. In an example, the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST may be approximately equal to one-third of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. In this regard, in some configurations, if the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is greater than one-third of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS, the at least one strip ST may define a continuous layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between consecutive layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1.

Furthermore, in order to realize the selective layering of the baked food product F described above whereby at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2, the at least one strip ST may be selectively metered upon the elongated sheet S at a distance away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. The distance away from the leading edge S_(LE) may be defined by a portion W_(SS-P) of the width W_(SS) of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS. The portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS may be defined by a distance between the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S and a leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST. In an example, the distance (i.e., the portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS) between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS may be approximately equal to one-fourth of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

With reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the system 100 may include a first conveyor 112 a having a proximal end 112 a _(P) and a distal end 112 a _(D). The first conveyor 112 a may include a belt 114 a defined by a width 114 aw (see, e.g., FIG. 5B). The belt 114 a may be rotatably supported by a proximal roller 116 a (see, e.g., FIG. 5A) located at the proximal end 112 a _(P) of the first conveyor 112 a and a distal roller 118 a (see, e.g., FIG. 5A) located at the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a.

A motor 120 a (see, e.g., FIG. 5A) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a such that one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a may rotatably drive the belt 114 a according to the direction of arrow A1. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 114 a relative to the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a, a segment of the belt 114 a may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 122 a.

With reference to FIGS. 5A-5B and 6A-6B, the system 100 may include a second conveyor 112 b having a proximal end 112 b _(P) and a distal end 112 b _(D). The second conveyor 112 b may include a belt 114 b defined by a width 114bw (see, e.g., FIG. 6A) that is rotatably supported by a proximal roller 116 b (see, e.g., FIG. 6B) located at the proximal end 112 b _(P) of the second conveyor 112 b and a distal roller 118 b (see, e.g., FIG. 6B) located at the distal end 112 b _(D) of the second conveyor 112 b.

A motor 120 b (see, e.g., FIG. 6B) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b such that one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b may rotatably drive the belt 114 b according to the direction of arrow A2. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 114 b relative to the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b, a segment of the belt 114 b may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 122 b.

As seen in FIGS. 5B and 6A, the second conveyor 112 b may be transversely arranged with respect to the first conveyor 12 a. In an example configuration, the second conveyor 12 b is orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor 112 a. Accordingly, the driven direction A2 of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b is orthogonal to the driven direction A1 of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a.

As seen in FIGS. 5A-5B and 6A, the proximal end 112 b _(P) of the second conveyor 112 b may be located near the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a. Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 6A, a portion 122 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b that may be located near the proximal end 112 b _(P) of the second conveyor 112 b may be approximately equal to and may be aligned with the width 114 aw of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a.

As seen in FIG. 5A, a first plane P1 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a. A second plane P2 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. The second plane P2: (1) may not intersect with the first plane P1, (2) may be substantially parallel to the first plane P1, and (3) may be located spatially below the first plane P1 (i.e., the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b may be located below the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a such that sheet segments SS are permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b as the sheet segments SS are transported upon the belt 114 a according to the direction of the arrow A1). As will be described in the following disclosure, by arranging the proximal end 112 b _(P) of the second conveyor 112 b near the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a, and, in conjunction with the arrangement the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b spatially below the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a, successive sheet segments SS may be transported from the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a to the proximal end 112 b _(P) of the second conveyor 112 b in a partially overlapped fashion in order to encapsulate at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as described above.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the system 100 may also include a first foodstuff deposit hopper 124. The first foodstuff hopper 124 may be located near the proximal end 112 a _(P) of the first conveyor 112 a and may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a. The first foodstuff hopper 124 may include a sidewall 126 defining a foodstuff-containing cavity 128. Access to the foodstuff-containing cavity 128 is permitted by an upper opening 130 and a lower opening 132. The first foodstuff hopper 124 may also include a pair of metering rollers 134 that are arranged about the lower opening 132.

Prior to being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a, the first foodstuff deposit D1 may be stowed within the foodstuff-containing cavity 128. The first foodstuff deposit D1 is evacuated out of the foodstuff-containing cavity 128 by way of the lower opening 132 of the first foodstuff hopper 124. The motor 120 a may be connected to the pair of metering rollers 134 to impart rotation to the pair of metering rollers 134 for metering the first foodstuff deposit D1 upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a at a controlled rate. The controlled metering rate of the first foodstuff deposit D1 in combination with a speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a rotatably driving the belt 114 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the first foodstuff deposit D1 being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D1).

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the system 100 may also include a second foodstuff deposit hopper 136. The second foodstuff hopper 136 may be located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper 124 and upstream of the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a. The second foodstuff deposit hopper 136 may be arranged over a portion but not all of the width 114 aw of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a defining the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 metered from the first foodstuff hopper 124. The second foodstuff hopper 136 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a in order to meter the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 at the above-described distance (see, e.g., W_(SS-P)) away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. A metering rate of the second foodstuff deposit D2 from the second foodstuff hopper 136 may be determined by, for example: (1) the physical characteristics (e.g. viscosity) of the second foodstuff deposit D2, (2) an open / partially open state of a foodstuff metering valve 138 of the second foodstuff hopper 136 and (3) the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a rotatably driving the belt 114 a according to the direction of arrow A1. As such, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D2).

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the system 100 may also include a foodstuff channel-forming member 154. In some instances, the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 may include a wheel arranged at a distance D₁₅₄ (see, e.g., FIG. 5A) away from a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a. The motor 120 a may be connected to the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 to impart rotation to the foodstuff channel-forming member 154. Alternatively, or, in addition to being connected to the motor 120 a, the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 may be statically arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a at the distance D₁₅₄ by a support member (not shown).

The foodstuff channel-forming member 154 may be located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper 124 and upstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper 136. The distance D₁₅₄ at which the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 may be arranged over the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a is less than the thickness T_(D1) of the metered first foodstuff deposit D1. As a result of the arrangement of the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 at the distance D₁₅₄ away from a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a, and, in light of the distance D₁₅₄ being less than the thickness T_(D1) of the metered first foodstuff deposit D1, functionally, the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 interferes with the movement of the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 as the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 is transported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a downstream in the direction of the arrow A1 toward the foodstuff channel-forming member 154. Therefore, the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 forms a second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(c) (see, e.g., FIGS. 5B, 5B′, 5B″, 5B‴) in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1.

In a substantially similar fashion with respect to the second foodstuff deposit hopper 136, the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a in order to form second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 at the above-described distance (see, e.g., W_(SS-P)) away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. Because the foodstuff channel-forming member 154 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a at the above-described distance (see, e.g., W_(SS-P)) away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S, when the second foodstuff hopper 136 meters the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered into and be substantially contained by the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(c) formed in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1.

Referring to FIGS. 5B′, 5B″ and 5B‴, the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 136 defining the thickness T_(D2) of the second foodstuff deposit D2 may result in the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(c) being: (1) entirely filled (see, e.g., FIG. 5B′), (2) partially filled (see, e.g., FIG. 5B″) or (3) over-filled (see, e.g., FIG. 5B‴). In an example, when the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 136 entirely fills the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(c) as seen in FIG. 5B′, an upper surface D2 _(U) of the second foodstuff deposit D2 is substantially co-planar with / substantially aligned with the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. In some instances, when the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 136 partially fills the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) as seen in FIG. 5B″, a portion of the thickness T_(D1) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 that is upset by the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) is not filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 thereby resulting in the upper surface D2 _(U) of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being lower than the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 such that the upper surface D2 _(U) of the second foodstuff deposit D2 is not co-planar with / not aligned with the upper surface DI_(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. In other instances, when the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 136 over-fills the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) as seen in FIG. 5B‴, the volume of the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 136 exceeds the available volume defined by the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) such that the upper surface D2 _(U) of the second foodstuff deposit D2 is higher than the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1, and, therefore, is not co-planar with / not aligned with the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the system 100 may also include a first slicing blade 140. The first slicing blade 140 may be located downstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper 136 and upstream of the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a. The first slicing blade 140 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon. The first slicing blade 140 is defined by a width W₁₄₀ (see, e.g., FIG. 5B) that may be greater than the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIG. 5A, an actuator 142 may be connected to the first slicing blade 140 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the first slicing blade 140 for causing the first slicing blade 140 to penetrate through both of the thickness T_(D1) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the thickness T_(D2) of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The periodic plunging motion of the first slicing bade 140 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a rotatably driving the belt 114 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the elongated sheet S defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon to be cut into a plurality of sheet segments SS with each sheet segment SS being defined by the length Lss.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a rotatably driving the belt 114 a according to the direction of arrow A1 serially transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a. Once each sheet segment SS reaches the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a, each sheet segment SS is permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a toward the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. The portion 122 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b that may be located near the proximal end 112 b _(P) of the second conveyor 112 b and aligned with the width 114 aw of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a at least partially directly receives each sheet segment SS from the distal end 112 a _(D) of the first conveyor 112 a.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b rotatably driving the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b according to the direction of arrow A2 transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 112 b _(D) of the second conveyor 112 b. As seen in FIG. 6B, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b rotatably driving the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b may be selectively controlled (and, in some instances, is referenced from the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 a and the distal roller 118 a rotatably driving the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a) in order to arrange: (1) a first portion of a rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b and (2) a second portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a over: the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a portion of an upper surface D1 _(U) of a first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. As a result, a portion of the sheet segment SS that was previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b may be partially laminated by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b in order to thereby entirely encapsulate the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 defined by: (a) the first foodstuff deposit D1 directly supporting the second foodstuff deposit D2 and the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. Furthermore, a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b is disposed over a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) first foodstuff deposit D1 that: (1) does not support the second foodstuff deposit D2 and (2) is not defined by the width Wss of each sheet segment SS between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the elongated strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIGS. 5B and 6A, regarding the encapsulation of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 described above, in an example, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b rotatably driving the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b may be selectively controlled in order to arrange a leading edge SS_(LE) of a sheet segment SS in the immediate process of being transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b at least directly over, or, alternatively, slightly ahead (as seen in FIGS. 6B and 7 ) of a leading edge ST_(LE) of a strip ST (defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2) of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. As a result, the strip ST of each sheet segment SS that had been previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b is covered by a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was subsequently deposited thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the system 100 may also include one or more pairs of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) arranged about the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. If more than one pair of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) are included in the system 100, the more than one pair of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) may be referred to as a plurality of compression rollers 144. The one or more pairs of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) arranged about the second conveyor 112 b may be located near the proximal end 112 b _(P) of the second conveyor 112 b and downstream of the portion 122 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b that may be aligned with the width 114 aw of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a.

Each pair compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) includes an upper compression roller 144 _(U) and a lower compression roller 144 _(L). The lower compression roller 144 _(L) may be arranged adjacent the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. The surface of the belt 114 b that the lower compression roller 144 _(L) is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b.

The upper compression roller 144 _(U) may be arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. A gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 144 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b is defined by a distance (see, e.g., D₁₄₄₋₁, D₁₄₄₋₁... D_(144-n)). When more than one pair of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) are included in the system 100, the distance D₁₄₄₋₁, D₁₄₄₋₁... D_(144-n) defining the gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 144 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b for each successive pair of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) may progressively decrease in dimension.

As one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b rotatably drives the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through the gaps or spacings defined by the distance D₁₄₄₋₁, D₁₄₄₋₁... D_(144-n). Because the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are defined by a height dimension that may be approximately equal to but slightly greater than the gap or spacing defined by the first distance D₁₄₄₋₁ associated with the first pair of compression rollers 144 ₁, the upper compression roller 144 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 144 ₁ directly engages the upper surface D1 _(U) (defined by a first foodstuff deposit D1) of each sheet segment SS of the partially overlapped sheet segments SS for compressing the partially overlapped sheet segments SS between the upper compression roller 144 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 144 ₁ and the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b. As the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through one or more subsequent gaps (e.g., D₁₄₄₋₁... D_(144-n)) that progressively decrease in dimension, the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are further compressed in a substantially similar manner as described above.

As a result of being passed through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) described above, most or all of the voids V (see, e.g., FIG. 8A) between opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (i.e., defined by a gap or spacing between a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of an adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1) are negated as a result of the one or more pairs of compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) compressing and thereby vertically shifting the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V. When the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is vertically shifted, the portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of the adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1 bind together. Furthermore, as the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is shifted into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS is similarly vertically displaced into an area previously spatially occupied by the underlying (and vertically shifted) first foodstuff deposit D1. In particular, as the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS is shifted, the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS ultimately appears to merge into a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, in some configurations, the system 100 may include three aligned layers L1, L2, L3 formed by successive sheet segments SS and by the at least one strip ST. In such a configuration, if the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is greater than or equal to one-third of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS, the at least one strip ST may merge into the substantially constant, uninterrupted layer defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2 between consecutive layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1. In this regard, if the system includes “n” layers formed by successive sheet segments SS and the at least one strip ST, the at least one strip ST may merge into the substantially constant, uninterrupted layer defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2 between consecutive layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 if the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is greater than or equal to the width Wss of each sheet segment SS divided by “n.” Conversely, if the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is less than the width Wss of each sheet segment SS divided by “n,” the at least one strip ST defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be interrupted between consecutive layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1.

After passing through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n), the sheet segments SS are integrated into an elongated, pre-baked food product body B (see, e.g., FIGS. 6A-6B, 8B).

The elongated, pre-baked food product body B is generally defined by: (1) a first thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, (2) a second thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 and (3) a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1. As seen in FIG. 8B, a rear surface of the third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 is supported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the system 100 may also include a second slicing blade 146. The second slicing blade 146 may be located downstream of the one or more compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n) and upstream of the distal end 112 b _(D) of the second conveyor 112 b. The second slicing blade 146 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b that supports the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The second slicing blade 146 is defined by a width W₁₄₆ (see, e.g., FIG. 6A) that may be greater than a width W_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 6A) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B.

Referring to FIG. 6B, an actuator 148 may be connected to the second slicing blade 146 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the second slicing blade 146 for causing the second slicing blade 146 to penetrate through a thickness T_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 6B) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The periodic plunging motion of the second slicing bade 146 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b rotatably driving the belt 114 b according to the direction of arrow A2 results in the elongated, pre-baked food product body B being cut into a plurality of pre-baked food product body units U having any desirable shape, size or dimension.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the system 100 may also include an oven 150. The oven 150 may be located downstream of the second slicing blade 146 and upstream of the distal end 112 b _(D) of the second conveyor 112 b. The oven 150 is arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface 122 b of the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b that supports the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U. As one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b rotatably drives the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U are passed through the oven 150 in order to bake the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U.

Upon the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U exiting the oven 150 according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U may then be referred to as baked food products F. As one or both of the proximal roller 116 b and the distal roller 118 b rotatably drives the belt 114 b of the second conveyor 112 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the baked food products F may fall with the assistance of gravity off of the distal end 112 b _(D) of the second conveyor 112 b for subsequent processing or packaging.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, 6A-6B, the system 100 may also include a controller 152. The controller 152 may be a computing resource such as, for example, a digital computer, and may include, but is not limited to: one or more electronic digital processors or central processing units (CPUs) in communication with one or more storage resources (e.g., memory, flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase change memory (PCM), and/or disk drives having spindles)).

The controller 152 may be communicatively coupled (i.e., wirelessly connected or hardwired) to any of the above-described components (e.g., components 120 a, 120 b, 134, 138, 142, 144, 148, 150, 154) of the system 100 in order to control any of the components. For example, the controller 152 may control the motors 120 a / 120 b for controlling the rate of rotation of the one or both of the proximal roller 116 a / 116 b and the distal roller 118 a / 118 b that rotatably drives the belt 114 a / 114 b of the first conveyor 112 a / the second conveyor 112 b. In another example, the controller 152 may control the rotation of the pair of metering rollers 134 in order to control the rate of the amount of the first foodstuff deposit D1 being metered upon the foodstuff receiving surface 122 a of the belt 114 a of the first conveyor 112 a. In yet another example, the controller 152 may control an open / partially open / closed state of the foodstuff metering valve 138 of the second foodstuff hopper 136 in order to control the rate of the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1. In an example, the controller 152 may control the state of the actuator 142 / 148 for controlling the frequency of the periodic plunging motion of the first slicing blade 140 / the second slicing blade 146. In another example, the controller 152 may control the motor 120 b for controlling a rate of rotation of one or more of the upper compression roller 144 _(U) and the lower compression roller 144 _(L) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 144 ₁, 144 ₂... 144 _(n). In yet another example, the controller 152 may control the on state, off state and/or temperature of the oven 150. In another example, the controller 152 may control the motors 120 a for controlling the rate of rotation of the foodstuff channel-forming member 154.

Referring to FIGS. 9A-9B and 10A-10B, an exemplary food product manufacturing system is shown generally at 200. FIGS. 9A-9B illustrates a first portion of the food product manufacturing system 200. FIGS. 10A-10B illustrates a second portion of the food product manufacturing system 200. The food product manufacturing system 200 is hereinafter referred to as “the system.”

The system 200 manufactures a baked food product F (see, e.g., FIGS. 10A-10B). The baked food product F is derived from at least a first foodstuff deposit D1 (see, e.g., FIGS. 9A, 9B) and a second foodstuff deposit D2 (see, e.g., FIGS. 9A, 9B). The baked food product F may be defined by several layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (e.g., approximately three layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as seen in FIGS. 11 and 12A) and at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (e.g. approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 as seen in FIGS. 11 and 12A). At least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The first foodstuff deposit D1 may include dough. The second foodstuff deposit D2 may include a filling (such as, e.g., a fruit filling), a food coloring, a supplement (such as, e.g., a vitamin supplement) or the like.

As will be described in the following disclosure, the first foodstuff deposit D1 is metered in the form of an elongated sheet S (see, e.g., FIG. 9B). The second foodstuff deposit D2 is metered in the form of at least one strip ST (see, e.g., FIG. 9B) upon the elongated sheet S. The elongated sheet S including the at least one strip ST metered there-upon is subsequently divided into a plurality of sheet segments SS (see, e.g., FIG. 9B).

As seen in FIGS. 9A-9B, 10A-10B, the at least one strip ST metered upon the elongated sheet S is numerically defined to include one strip ST. Although one strip ST is metered upon the elongated sheet S according to the example described at FIGS. 9A-9B, 10A-10B, the at least one strip ST may be numerically defined to include more than one strip ST (see, e.g., FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B where a first strip ST1 and a second strip ST2 are metered upon an elongated sheet S). Therefore, the at least one strip ST may include any desirable number of strips ST such as, for example, one, two, three, fourth, five or “n” strips (whereby “n” is any integer).

Referring to FIG. 9B, each sheet segment SS is defined by a length Lss. The elongated sheet S and each sheet segment SS is defined by a width Wss. Because each sheet segment SS is derived from the elongated sheet S, and, therefore, are each defined to include the same width dimension Wss, the reference numeral designating the width Wss of the sheet segment SS may be interchangeably utilized when describing the width of the elongated sheet S.

As seen in FIG. 9B, the at least one strip ST is defined by a width W_(ST). The width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is less than the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. Unlike the examples described above at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST seen at FIG. 9B is not approximately equal to one-third of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS; rather, in an example, the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST may be approximately equal to an amount less than one-third (e.g., approximately one-fifth) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. As will be described in the following disclosure at FIGS. 10B, 11, 12A, 12B, as a result of the comparatively smaller width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST of the example seen at FIG. 9B when compared to the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST of the previously-described examples at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the baked food product F may appear to be periodically interrupted by the first foodstuff deposit D1 as opposed to being formed to include a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer that separates an upper first foodstuff deposit layer D1 from a lower first foodstuff deposit later D1.

Furthermore, in order to realize the selective layering of the baked food product F described above at FIGS. 11 and 12A whereby at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2, the at least one strip ST may be selectively metered upon the elongated sheet S at a distance away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. The distance away from the leading edge S_(LE) may be defined by a portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS. The portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS may be defined by a distance between the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S and a leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST. In an example, the distance (i.e., the portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS) between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS may be approximately equal to one-fourth of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

With reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the system 200 may include a first conveyor 212 a having a proximal end 212 a _(P) and a distal end 212 a _(D). The first conveyor 212 a may include a belt 214 a defined by a width 214 aw (see, e.g., FIG. 9B). The belt 214 a may be rotatably supported by a proximal roller 216 a (see, e.g., FIG. 9A) located at the proximal end 212 a _(P) of the first conveyor 212 a and a distal roller 218 a (see, e.g., FIG. 9A) located at the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a.

A motor 220 a (see, e.g., FIG. 9A) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a such that one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a may rotatably drive the belt 214 a according to the direction of arrow A1. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 214 a relative to the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a, a segment of the belt 214 a may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 222 a.

With reference to FIGS. 9A-9B and 10A-10B, the system 200 may include a second conveyor 212 b having a proximal end 212 b _(P) and a distal end 212 b _(D). The second conveyor 212 b may include a belt 214 b defined by a width 214 bw (see, e.g., FIG. 10A) that is rotatably supported by a proximal roller 216 b (see, e.g., FIG. 10B) located at the proximal end 212 b _(P) of the second conveyor 212 b and a distal roller 218 b (see, e.g., FIG. 10B) located at the distal end 212 b _(D) of the second conveyor 212 b.

A motor 220 b (see, e.g., FIG. 10B) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b such that one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b may rotatably drive the belt 214 b according to the direction of arrow A2. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 214 b relative to the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b, a segment of the belt 214 b may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 222 b.

As seen in FIGS. 9B and 10A, the second conveyor 212 b may be transversely arranged with respect to the first conveyor 12 a. In an example configuration, the second conveyor 12 b is orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor 212 a. Accordingly, the driven direction A2 of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b is orthogonal to the driven direction A1 of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a.

As seen in FIGS. 9A-9B and 10A, the proximal end 212 b _(P) of the second conveyor 212 b may be located near the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a. Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 10A, a portion 222 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b that may be located near the proximal end 212 b _(P) of the second conveyor 212 b may be approximately equal to and may be aligned with the width 214 aw of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a.

As seen in FIG. 9A, a first plane P1 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a. A second plane P2 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. The second plane P2: (1) may not intersect with the first plane P1, (2) may be substantially parallel to the first plane P1, and (3) may be located spatially below the first plane P1 (i.e., the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b may be located below the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a such that sheet segments SS are permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b as the sheet segments SS are transported upon the belt 214 a according to the direction of the arrow A1). As will be described in the following disclosure, by arranging the proximal end 212 b _(P) of the second conveyor 212 b near the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a, and, in conjunction with the arrangement the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b spatially below the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a, successive sheet segments SS may be transported from the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a to the proximal end 212 b _(P) of the second conveyor 212 b in a partially overlapped fashion in order to encapsulate at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as described above.

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the system 200 may also include a first foodstuff deposit hopper 224. The first foodstuff hopper 224 may be located near the proximal end 212 a _(P) of the first conveyor 212 a and may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a. The first foodstuff hopper 224 may include a sidewall 226 defining a foodstuff-containing cavity 228. Access to the foodstuff-containing cavity 228 is permitted by an upper opening 230 and a lower opening 232. The first foodstuff hopper 224 may also include a pair of metering rollers 234 that are arranged about the lower opening 232.

Prior to being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a, the first foodstuff deposit D1 may be stowed within the foodstuff-containing cavity 228. The first foodstuff deposit D1 is evacuated out of the foodstuff-containing cavity 228 by way of the lower opening 232 of the first foodstuff hopper 224. The motor 220 a may be connected to the pair of metering rollers 234 to impart rotation to the pair of metering rollers 234 for metering the first foodstuff deposit D1 upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a at a controlled rate. The controlled metering rate of the first foodstuff deposit D1 in combination with a speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a rotatably driving the belt 214 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the first foodstuff deposit D1 being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D1).

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the system 200 may also include a second foodstuff deposit hopper 236. The second foodstuff hopper 236 may be located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper 224 and upstream of the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a. The second foodstuff deposit hopper 236 may be arranged over a portion but not all of the width 214 aw of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a defining the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 metered from the first foodstuff hopper 224. The second foodstuff hopper 236 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a in order to meter the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 at the above-described distance (see, e.g., W_(SS-P)) away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. A metering rate of the second foodstuff deposit D2 from the second foodstuff hopper 236 may be determined by, for example: (1) the physical characteristics (e.g. viscosity) of the second foodstuff deposit D2, (2) an open / partially open state of a foodstuff metering valve 238 of the second foodstuff hopper 236 and (3) the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a rotatably driving the belt 214 a according to the direction of arrow A1.As such, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D2).

The system 200 may also include a foodstuff channel-forming member (not shown but similar to that shown and described above at reference numeral 154 in FIGS. 5A, 5B). The motor 220 a may be connected to the foodstuff channel-forming member to impart rotation to the foodstuff channel-forming member. Alternatively, or, in addition to being connected to the motor 220 a, the foodstuff channel-forming member may be statically arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a at a distance by a support member (not shown). As described above, the foodstuff channel-forming member interferes with the movement of the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 as the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 is transported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a downstream in the direction of the arrow A1 toward the foodstuff channel-forming member. Therefore, the foodstuff channel-forming member forms a second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 c (see, e.g., FIGS. 5B, 5B′, 5B″, 5B‴) in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. When the second foodstuff hopper 236 meters the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered into and be substantially contained by the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) formed in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. In a substantially similar manner as described above, when the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 236 may be selectively controlled in order to result in the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) being: (1) entirely filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B′), (2) partially filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B″) or (3) over-filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B‴).

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the system 200 may also include a first slicing blade 240. The first slicing blade 240 may be located downstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper 236 and upstream of the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a. The first slicing blade 240 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon. The first slicing blade 240 is defined by a width W₂₄₀ (see, e.g., FIG. 9B) that may be greater than the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIG. 9A, an actuator 242 may be connected to the first slicing blade 240 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the first slicing blade 240 for causing the first slicing blade 240 to penetrate through both of the thickness T_(D1) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the thickness T_(D2) of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The periodic plunging motion of the first slicing bade 240 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a rotatably driving the belt 214 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the elongated sheet S defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon to be cut into a plurality of sheet segments SS with each sheet segment SS being defined by the length Lss.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a rotatably driving the belt 214 a according to the direction of arrow A1 serially transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a. Once each sheet segment SS reaches the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a, each sheet segment SS is permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a toward the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. The portion 222 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b that may be located near the proximal end 212 b _(P) of the second conveyor 212 b and aligned with the width 214 aw of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a at least partially directly receives each sheet segment SS from the distal end 212 a _(D) of the first conveyor 212 a.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b rotatably driving the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b according to the direction of arrow A2 transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 212 b _(D) of the second conveyor 212 b. As seen in FIG. 10B, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b rotatably driving the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b may be selectively controlled (and, in some instances, is referenced from the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 a and the distal roller 218 a rotatably driving the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a) in order to arrange: (1) a first portion of a rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b and (2) a second portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a over: the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a portion of an upper surface D1 _(U) of a first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. As a result, a portion of the sheet segment SS that was previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b may be partially laminated by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b in order to thereby entirely encapsulate the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 defined by: (a) the first foodstuff deposit D1 directly supporting the second foodstuff deposit D2 and the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. Furthermore, a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b is disposed over a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) first foodstuff deposit D1 that: (1) does not support the second foodstuff deposit D2 and (2) is not defined by the width Wss of each sheet segment SS between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the elongated strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIGS. 9B and 10A, regarding the encapsulation of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 described above, in an example, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b rotatably driving the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b may be selectively controlled in order to arrange a leading edge SS_(LE) of a sheet segment SS in the immediate process of being transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b at least directly over, or, alternatively, slightly ahead (as seen in FIGS. 10B and 11 ) of a leading edge ST_(LE) of a strip ST (defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2) of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. As a result, the strip ST of each sheet segment SS that had been previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b is covered by a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was subsequently deposited thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, the system 200 may also include one or more pairs of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) arranged about the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. If more than one pair of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) is included in the system 200, the more than one pair of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) may be referred to as a plurality of compression rollers 244. The one or more pairs of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) arranged about the second conveyor 212 b may be located near the proximal end 212 b _(P) of the second conveyor 212 b and downstream of the portion 222 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b that may be aligned with the width 214 aw of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a.

Each pair compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) includes an upper compression roller 244 _(U) and a lower compression roller 244 _(L). The lower compression roller 244 _(L) may be arranged adjacent the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. The surface of the belt 214 b that the lower compression roller 244 _(L) is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b.

The upper compression roller 244 _(U) may be arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. A gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 244 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b is defined by a distance (see, e.g., D₂₄₄₋₁, D₂₄₄₋₁... D_(244-n)). When more than one pair of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) are included in the system 200, the distance D₂₄₄₋₁, D₂₄₄₋₁... D_(244-n) defining the gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 244 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b for each successive pair of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) may progressively decrease in dimension.

As one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b rotatably drives the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through the gaps or spacings defined by the distance D₂₄₄₋₁, D₂₄₄₋₁... D_(244-n). Because the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are defined by a height dimension that may be approximately equal to but slightly greater than the gap or spacing defined by the first distance D₂₄₄₋₁ associated with the first pair of compression rollers 244 ₁, the upper compression roller 244 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 244 ₁ directly engages the upper surface D1 _(U) (defined by a first foodstuff deposit D1) of each sheet segment SS of the partially overlapped sheet segments SS for compressing the partially overlapped sheet segments SS between the upper compression roller 244 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 244 ₁ and the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b. As the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through one or more subsequent gaps (e.g., D₂₄₄₋₁... D_(244-n)) that progressively decrease in dimension, the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are further compressed in a substantially similar manner as described above.

As a result of being passed through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) described above, most or all of the voids V, Vu, V_(D) (see, e.g., FIG. 12A) between opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (i.e., defined by a gap or spacing between a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of an adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1) are negated as a result of the one or more pairs of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) compressing and thereby vertically shifting the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, V_(U), V_(D). When the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is vertically shifted, the portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of the adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1 bind together.

Furthermore, as the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is shifted into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, Vu, V_(D), the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS is similarly vertically displaced into an area previously spatially occupied by the underlying (and vertically shifted) first foodstuff deposit D1. Unlike the examples described above where an elongated, pre-baked food product body B of FIGS. 4B, 8B is formed having the second foodstuff deposit D2 of each sheet segment SS ultimately appearing to merge into a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer as a result of the above-described vertical shifting, the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B seen in FIG. 12B ultimately appears as an interrupted layer. The interruption of the layer defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2 results from the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS being relatively thinner (e.g., approximately equal to an amount less than one-third (e.g., approximately one-fifth) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS). As a result, when the one or more pairs of compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) compress the partially overlapped sheet segments SS, with reference to FIG. 12A, an upper-most first foodstuff deposit D1 fills an upstream void Vu (see, e.g., FIG. 12A) and a downstream void V_(D) (see, e.g., FIG. 12A) that are adjacent opposite edges of the second foodstuff deposit D2 in order to create the interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B (see, e.g., FIGS. 10B, 11 and 12B).

Referring to FIGS. 12A-12B, the elongated, pre-baked food product body B is generally defined by: (1) a first thickness segment defined by approximately the uppermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, (2) a second thickness segment defined by a portion of one or both of the uppermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, the lowermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the interrupted second foodstuff deposit D2 and (3) a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 that supports the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a lowermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1. As seen in FIG. 12B, a rear surface of the third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 is supported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, the system 200 may also include a second slicing blade 246. The second slicing blade 246 may be located downstream of the one or more compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂...244 _(n) and upstream of the distal end 212 b _(D) of the second conveyor 212 b. The second slicing blade 246 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b that supports the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The second slicing blade 246 is defined by a width W₂₄₆ (see, e.g., FIG. 10A) that may be greater than a width W_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 10A) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B.

Referring to FIG. 10B, an actuator 248 may be connected to the second slicing blade 246 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the second slicing blade 246 for causing the second slicing blade 246 to penetrate through a thickness T_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 10B) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The periodic plunging motion of the second slicing bade 246 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b rotatably driving the belt 214 b according to the direction of arrow A2 results in the elongated, pre-baked food product body B being cut into a plurality of pre-baked food product body units U having any desirable shape, size or dimension.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, the system 200 may also include an oven 250. The oven 250 may be located downstream of the second slicing blade 246 and upstream of the distal end 212 b _(D) of the second conveyor 212 b. The oven 250 is arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface 222 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b that supports the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U. As one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b rotatably drives the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U are passed through the oven 250 in order to bake the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U.

Upon the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U exiting the oven 250 according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U may then be referred to as baked food products F. As one or both of the proximal roller 216 b and the distal roller 218 b rotatably drives the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 212 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the baked food products F may fall with the assistance of gravity off of the distal end 212 b _(D) of the second conveyor 212 b for subsequent processing or packaging.

Referring to FIGS. 9A-9B, 10A-10B, the system 200 may also include a controller 252. The controller 252 may be a computing resource such as, for example, a digital computer, and may include, but is not limited to: one or more electronic digital processors or central processing units (CPUs) in communication with one or more storage resources (e.g., memory, flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase change memory (PCM), and/or disk drives having spindles)).

The controller 252 may be communicatively coupled (i.e., wirelessly connected or hardwired) to any of the above-described components (e.g., components 220 a, 220 b, 234, 238, 242, 244, 248, 250) of the system 200 in order to control any of the components. For example, the controller 252 may control the motors 220 a / 220 b for controlling the rate of rotation of the one or both of the proximal roller 216 a / 216 b and the distal roller 218 a / 218 b that rotatably drives the belt 214 a / 214 b of the first conveyor 212 a / the second conveyor 212 b. In another example, the controller 252 may control the rotation of the pair of metering rollers 234 in order to control the rate of the amount of the first foodstuff deposit D1 being metered upon the foodstuff receiving surface 222 a of the belt 214 a of the first conveyor 212 a. In yet another example, the controller 252 may control an open / partially open / closed state of the foodstuff metering valve 238 of the second foodstuff hopper 236 in order to control the rate of the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1. In an example, the controller 252 may control the state of the actuator 242/248 for controlling the frequency of the periodic plunging motion of the first slicing blade 240 / the second slicing blade 246. In another example, the controller 252 may control the motor 220 b for controlling a rate of rotation of one or more of the upper compression roller 244 _(U) and the lower compression roller 244 _(L) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 244 ₁, 244 ₂... 244 _(n). In yet another example, the controller 252 may control the on state, off state and/or temperature of the oven 250.

Referring to FIGS. 13A-13B and 14A-14B, an exemplary food product manufacturing system is shown generally at 300. FIGS. 13A-13B illustrates a first portion of the food product manufacturing system 300. FIGS. 14A-14B illustrates a second portion of the food product manufacturing system 300. The food product manufacturing system 300 is hereinafter referred to as “the system.”

The system 300 manufactures a baked food product F (see, e.g., FIGS. 14A-14B). The baked food product F is derived from at least a first foodstuff deposit D1 (see, e.g., FIGS. 13A, 13B) and a second foodstuff deposit D2 (see, e.g., FIGS. 13A, 13B). The baked food product F may be defined by several layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (e.g., approximately three layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as seen in FIGS. 15 and 16A) and at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (e.g. approximately two layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 as seen in FIGS. 15 and 16A). At least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates one of the two layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 whereas the other layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 is only supported by one of the layers defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 and not encapsulated between layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1. The first foodstuff deposit D1 may include dough. The second foodstuff deposit D2 may include a filling (such as, e.g., a fruit filling), a food coloring, a supplement (such as, e.g., a vitamin supplement) or the like.

As will be described in the following disclosure, the first foodstuff deposit D1 is metered in the form of an elongated sheet S (see, e.g., FIG. 13B). The second foodstuff deposit D2 is metered in the form of at least one strip ST (see, e.g., FIG. 13B) upon the elongated sheet S. The elongated sheet S including the at least one strip ST metered there-upon is subsequently divided into a plurality of sheet segments SS (see, e.g., FIG. 13B).

As seen in FIGS. 13A-13B, 14A-14B, the at least one strip ST metered upon the elongated sheet S is numerically defined to include one strip ST. Although one strip ST is metered upon the elongated sheet S according to the example described at FIGS. 13A-13B, 14A-14B, the at least one strip ST may be numerically defined to include more than one strip ST (see, e.g., FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B where a first strip ST1 and a second strip ST2 are metered upon an elongated sheet S). Therefore, the at least one strip ST may include any desirable number of strips ST such as, for example, one, two, three, fourth, five or “n” strips (whereby “n” is any integer).

Referring to FIG. 13B, each sheet segment SS is defined by a length Lss. The elongated sheet S and each sheet segment SS is defined by a width Wss. Because each sheet segment SS is derived from the elongated sheet S, and, therefore, are each defined to include the same width dimension Wss, the reference numeral designating the width Wss of the sheet segment SS may be interchangeably utilized when describing the width of the elongated sheet S.

As seen in FIG. 13B, the at least one strip ST is defined by a width W_(ST). The width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST is less than the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. Unlike the examples described above at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST seen at FIG. 13B is not approximately equal to one-third of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS; rather, in an example, the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST may be approximately equal to an amount greater than one-third (e.g., approximately one-half) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. As will be described in the following disclosure at FIGS. 14B, 15, 16A, 16B, as a result of the comparatively greater width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST of the example seen at FIG. 13B when compared to the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST of the previously-described examples at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the baked food product F will appear to include two uninterrupted layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 as opposed to one uninterrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2.

Furthermore, unlike the embodiments described above at FIGS. 1B, 5B and 9B, in order to realize the selective layering of the baked food product F described above at FIGS. 15 and 16A whereby the baked food product F includes two uninterrupted layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 with one of the two layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being encapsulated by at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the other of the two layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 forming the uppermost layer of the baked food product F being supported by one of the layers defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 and not encapsulated between layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 , the at least one strip ST is not selectively metered upon the elongated sheet S at a distance away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S (as described above in the preceding embodiments, the distance was defined by a portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS whereby the portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS was defined by a distance between the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S and a leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST). Rather, in some instances as seen, for example, at FIGS. 13B and 15 , the leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST may be aligned with the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. In other words, the distance between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the one strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS may be approximately equal to zero.

With reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B, the system 300 may include a first conveyor 312 a having a proximal end 312 a _(P) and a distal end 312 a _(D). The first conveyor 312 a may include a belt 314 a defined by a width 314 aw (see, e.g., FIG. 13B). The belt 314 a may be rotatably supported by a proximal roller 316 a (see, e.g., FIG. 13A) located at the proximal end 312 a _(P) of the first conveyor 312 a and a distal roller 318 a (see, e.g., FIG. 13A) located at the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a.

A motor 320 a (see, e.g., FIG. 13A) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a such that one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a may rotatably drive the belt 314 a according to the direction of arrow A1.Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 314 a relative to the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a, a segment of the belt 314 a may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 322 a.

With reference to FIGS. 13A-13B and 14A-14B, the system 300 may include a second conveyor 312 b having a proximal end 312 b _(P) and a distal end 312 b _(D). The second conveyor 312 b may include a belt 314 b defined by a width 314 bw (see, e.g., FIG. 14A) that is rotatably supported by a proximal roller 316 b (see, e.g., FIG. 14B) located at the proximal end 312 b _(P) of the second conveyor 312 b and a distal roller 318 b (see, e.g., FIG. 14B) located at the distal end 312 b _(D) of the second conveyor 312 b.

A motor 320 b (see, e.g., FIG. 14B) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b such that one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b may rotatably drive the belt 314 b according to the direction of arrow A2. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 314 b relative to the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b, a segment of the belt 314 b may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 322 b.

As seen in FIGS. 13B and 14A, the second conveyor 312 b may be transversely arranged with respect to the first conveyor 12 a. In an example configuration, the second conveyor 12 b is orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor 312 a. Accordingly, the driven direction A2 of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b is orthogonal to the driven direction A1 of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a.

As seen in FIGS. 13A-13B and 14A, the proximal end 312 b _(P) of the second conveyor 312 b may be located near the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a. Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 14A, a portion 322 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b that may be located near the proximal end 312 b _(P) of the second conveyor 312 b may be approximately equal to and may be aligned with the width 314 aw of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a.

As seen in FIG. 13A, a first plane P1 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a. A second plane P2 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. The second plane P2: (1) may not intersect with the first plane P1, (2) may be substantially parallel to the first plane P1, and (3) may be located spatially below the first plane P1 (i.e., the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b may be located below the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a such that sheet segments SS are permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b as the sheet segments SS are transported upon the belt 314 a according to the direction of the arrow A1). As will be described in the following disclosure, by arranging the proximal end 312 b _(P) of the second conveyor 312 b near the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a, and, in conjunction with the arrangement the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b spatially below the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a, successive sheet segments SS may be transported from the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a to the proximal end 312 b _(P) of the second conveyor 312 b in a partially overlapped fashion in order to encapsulate a first portion of the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 whereas a second portion of the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 is not encapsulated by two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1, but, rather, is supported by one layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1.

Referring to FIGS. 13A and 13B, the system 300 may also include a first foodstuff deposit hopper 324. The first foodstuff hopper 324 may be located near the proximal end 312 a _(P) of the first conveyor 312 a and may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a. The first foodstuff hopper 324 may include a sidewall 326 defining a foodstuff-containing cavity 328. Access to the foodstuff-containing cavity 328 is permitted by an upper opening 330 and a lower opening 332. The first foodstuff hopper 324 may also include a pair of metering rollers 334 that are arranged about the lower opening 332.

Prior to being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a, the first foodstuff deposit D1 may be stowed within the foodstuff-containing cavity 328. The first foodstuff deposit D1 is evacuated out of the foodstuff-containing cavity 328 by way of the lower opening 332 of the first foodstuff hopper 324. The motor 320 a may be connected to the pair of metering rollers 334 to impart rotation to the pair of metering rollers 334 for metering the first foodstuff deposit D1 upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a at a controlled rate. The controlled metering rate of the first foodstuff deposit D1 in combination with a speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a rotatably driving the belt 314 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the first foodstuff deposit D1 being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D1).

Referring to FIGS. 13A and 13B, the system 300 may also include a second foodstuff deposit hopper 336. The second foodstuff hopper 336 may be located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper 324 and upstream of the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a. The second foodstuff deposit hopper 336 may be arranged over a portion but not all of the width 314 aw of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a defining the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 metered from the first foodstuff hopper 324. The second foodstuff hopper 336 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a in order to meter the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 at the above-described in a manner that is substantially aligned with a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. A metering rate of the second foodstuff deposit D2 from the second foodstuff hopper 336 may be determined by, for example: (1) the physical characteristics (e.g. viscosity) of the second foodstuff deposit D2, (2) an open / partially open state of a foodstuff metering valve 338 of the second foodstuff hopper 336 and (3) the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a rotatably driving the belt 314 a according to the direction of arrow A1.As such, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D2).

The system 300 may also include a foodstuff channel-forming member (not shown but similar to that shown and described above at reference numeral 154 in FIGS. 5A, 5B). The motor 320 a may be connected to the foodstuff channel-forming member to impart rotation to the foodstuff channel-forming member. Alternatively, or, in addition to being connected to the motor 320 a, the foodstuff channel-forming member may be statically arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a at a distance by a support member (not shown). As described above, the foodstuff channel-forming member interferes with the movement of the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 as the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 is transported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a downstream in the direction of the arrow A1 toward the foodstuff channel-forming member. Therefore, the foodstuff channel-forming member forms a second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) (see, e.g., FIGS. 5B, 5B′, 5B″, 5B‴) in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. When the second foodstuff hopper 336 meters the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered into and be substantially contained by the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) formed in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. In a substantially similar manner as described above, when the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 336 may be selectively controlled in order to result in the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) being: (1) entirely filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B′), (2) partially filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B″) or (3) over-filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B‴).

Referring to FIGS. 13A and 13B, the system 300 may also include a first slicing blade 340. The first slicing blade 340 may be located downstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper 336 and upstream of the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a. The first slicing blade 340 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon. The first slicing blade 340 is defined by a width W₃₄₀ (see, e.g., FIG. 13B) that may be greater than the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIG. 13A, an actuator 342 may be connected to the first slicing blade 340 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the first slicing blade 340 for causing the first slicing blade 340 to penetrate through both of the thickness T_(D1) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the thickness T_(D2) of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The periodic plunging motion of the first slicing bade 340 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a rotatably driving the belt 314 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the elongated sheet S defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon to be cut into a plurality of sheet segments SS with each sheet segment SS being defined by the length Lss.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a rotatably driving the belt 314 a according to the direction of arrow A1 serially transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a. Once each sheet segment SS reaches the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a, each sheet segment SS is permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a toward the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. The portion 322 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b that may be located near the proximal end 312 b _(P) of the second conveyor 312 b and aligned with the width 314 aw of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a at least partially directly receives each sheet segment SS from the distal end 312 a _(D) of the first conveyor 312 a.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b rotatably driving the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b according to the direction of arrow A2 transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 312 b _(D) of the second conveyor 312 b. As seen in FIG. 14B, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b rotatably driving the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b may be selectively controlled (and, in some instances, is referenced from the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 a and the distal roller 318 a rotatably driving the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a) in order to arrange: (1) a first portion of a rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b and (2) a second portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a over: the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a portion of an upper surface D1 _(U) of a first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. As a result, a portion of the sheet segment SS that was previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b may be partially laminated by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b in order to thereby partially encapsulate the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 defined by: (a) the first foodstuff deposit D1 directly supporting the second foodstuff deposit D2 and the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. Furthermore, a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b is disposed over a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) first foodstuff deposit D1 that does not support the second foodstuff deposit D2. Yet even further, the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b is not arranged over a portion of elongated strip ST that extends from and is substantially aligned with the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S; as a result, the portion of elongated strip ST that extends from and is substantially aligned with the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S that is not covered by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b will ultimately define an uppermost layer of the baked food product F defined by one of the two layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the baked food product F.

Referring to FIGS. 13B and 14A, in an example, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b rotatably driving the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b may be selectively controlled in order to expose the portion of elongated strip ST that extends from and is substantially aligned with the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. As a result, the strip ST of each sheet segment SS that had been previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b is not covered by a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was subsequently deposited thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 14A and 14B, the system 300 may also include one or more pairs of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) arranged about the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. If more than one pair of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) are included in the system 300, the more than one pair of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂...344 _(n) may be referred to as a plurality of compression rollers 344. The one or more pairs of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) arranged about the second conveyor 312 b may be located near the proximal end 312 b _(P) of the second conveyor 312 b and downstream of the portion 322 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b that may be aligned with the width 314 aw of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a.

Each pair compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) includes an upper compression roller 344 _(U) and a lower compression roller 344 _(L). The lower compression roller 344 _(L) may be arranged adjacent the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. The surface of the belt 314 b that the lower compression roller 344 _(L) is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b.

The upper compression roller 344 _(U) may be arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. A gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 344 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b is defined by a distance (see, e.g., D₃₄₄₋₁, D₃₄₄₋₁... D_(344-n)). When more than one pair of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) are included in the system 300, the distance D₃₄₄₋₁, D₃₄₄₋₁... D_(344-n) defining the gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 344 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b for each successive pair of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) may progressively decrease in dimension.

As one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b rotatably drives the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through the gaps or spacings defined by the distance D₃₄₄₋₁, D₃₄₄₋₁... D_(344-n). Because the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are defined by a height dimension that may be approximately equal to but slightly greater than the gap or spacing defined by the first distance D₃₄₄₋₁ associated with the first pair of compression rollers 344 ₁, the upper compression roller 344 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 344 ₁ directly engages the upper surface D1 _(U) (defined by a first foodstuff deposit D1) of each sheet segment SS of the partially overlapped sheet segments SS for compressing the partially overlapped sheet segments SS between the upper compression roller 344 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 344 ₁ and the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b. As the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through one or more subsequent gaps (e.g., D₃₄₄₋₁... D_(344-n)) that progressively decrease in dimension, the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are further compressed in a substantially similar manner as described above.

As a result of being passed through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) described above, most or all of the voids V (see, e.g., FIG. 16A) between opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (i.e., defined by a gap or spacing between a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of an adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1) are negated as a result of the one or more pairs of compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) compressing and thereby vertically shifting the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V. When the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is vertically shifted, the portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of the adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1 bind together.

Furthermore, as the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is shifted into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of at least one strip ST of each sheet segment SS is similarly vertically displaced into an area previously spatially occupied by the underlying (and vertically shifted) first foodstuff deposit D1. In particular, as a portion of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (that is covered by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b) is shifted, the portion of the second foodstuff deposit D2 ultimately appears to merge with adjacent portions of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (that are similarly covered by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b). However, unlike the examples described above at FIGS. 1B and 5B where a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 defined by the portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the sheet segment SS does not support the second foodstuff deposit D2 defined by the at least one strip ST, the portion of the second foodstuff deposit D2 that is not covered by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS merges with adj acent uncovered portions of the second foodstuff deposit D2 to form an uppermost layer of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B seen in FIG. 16B

Referring to FIGS. 16A-16B, the elongated, pre-baked food product body B is generally defined by: (1) a first thickness segment defined by approximately a first portion of the second foodstuff deposit D2 that is not covered by rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b, (2) a second thickness segment defined by the uppermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, (3) a third thickness defined by the second portion of the foodstuff deposit D2 that is covered by rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b and (4) a fourth thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 that supports the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a lowermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1. As seen in FIG. 16B, a rear surface of the fourth thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 is supported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b.

Referring to FIGS. 14A and 14B, the system 300 may also include a second slicing blade 346. The second slicing blade 346 may be located downstream of the one or more compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n) and upstream of the distal end 312 b _(D) of the second conveyor 312 b. The second slicing blade 346 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b that supports the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The second slicing blade 346 is defined by a width W₃₄₆ (see, e.g., FIG. 14A) that may be greater than a width W_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 14A) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B.

Referring to FIG. 14B, an actuator 348 may be connected to the second slicing blade 346 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the second slicing blade 346 for causing the second slicing blade 346 to penetrate through a thickness T_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 14B) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The periodic plunging motion of the second slicing bade 346 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b rotatably driving the belt 314 b according to the direction of arrow A2 results in the elongated, pre-baked food product body B being cut into a plurality of pre-baked food product body units U having any desirable shape, size or dimension.

Referring to FIGS. 14A and 14B, the system 300 may also include an oven 350. The oven 350 may be located downstream of the second slicing blade 346 and upstream of the distal end 312 b _(D) of the second conveyor 312 b. The oven 350 is arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface 322 b of the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b that supports the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U. As one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b rotatably drives the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U are passed through the oven 350 in order to bake the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U.

Upon the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U exiting the oven 350 according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U may then be referred to as baked food products F. As one or both of the proximal roller 316 b and the distal roller 318 b rotatably drives the belt 314 b of the second conveyor 312 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the baked food products F may fall with the assistance of gravity off of the distal end 312 b _(D) of the second conveyor 312 b for subsequent processing or packaging.

Referring to FIGS. 13A-13B, 14A-14B, the system 300 may also include a controller 352. The controller 352 may be a computing resource such as, for example, a digital computer, and may include, but is not limited to: one or more electronic digital processors or central processing units (CPUs) in communication with one or more storage resources (e.g., memory, flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase change memory (PCM), and/or disk drives having spindles).

The controller 352 may be communicatively coupled (i.e., wirelessly connected or hardwired) to any of the above-described components (e.g., components 320 a, 320 b, 334, 338, 342, 344, 348, 350) of the system 300 in order to control any of the components. For example, the controller 352 may control the motors 320 a / 320 b for controlling the rate of rotation of the one or both of the proximal roller 316 a / 316 b and the distal roller 318 a / 318 b that rotatably drives the belt 314 a / 314 b of the first conveyor 312 a / the second conveyor 312 b. In another example, the controller 352 may control the rotation of the pair of metering rollers 334 in order to control the rate of the amount of the first foodstuff deposit D1 being metered upon the foodstuff receiving surface 322 a of the belt 314 a of the first conveyor 312 a. In yet another example, the controller 352 may control an open / partially open / closed state of the foodstuff metering valve 338 of the second foodstuff hopper 336 in order to control the rate of the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1. In an example, the controller 352 may control the state of the actuator 342 / 348 for controlling the frequency of the periodic plunging motion of the first slicing blade 340/ the second slicing blade 346. In another example, the controller 352 may control the motor 320 b for controlling a rate of rotation of one or more of the upper compression roller 344 _(U) and the lower compression roller 344 _(L) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 344 ₁, 344 ₂... 344 _(n). In yet another example, the controller 352 may control the on state, off state and/or temperature of the oven 350.

Referring to FIGS. 17A-17B and 18A-18B, an exemplary food product manufacturing system is shown generally at 400. FIGS. 17A-17B illustrates a first portion of the food product manufacturing system 400. FIGS. 18A-18B illustrates a second portion of the food product manufacturing system 400. The food product manufacturing system 400 is hereinafter referred to as “the system.”

The system 400 manufactures a baked food product F (see, e.g., FIGS. 18A-18B). The baked food product F is derived from at least a first foodstuff deposit D1 (see, e.g., FIGS. 17A, 17B) and a second foodstuff deposit D2 (see, e.g., FIGS. 17A, 17B). The baked food product F may be defined by several layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (e.g., approximately three layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as seen in FIGS. 19 and 20A) and at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (e.g. approximately two layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 as seen in FIGS. 19 and 20A). At least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates each of the two layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The first foodstuff deposit D1 may include dough. The second foodstuff deposit D2 may include a filling (such as, e.g., a fruit filling), a food coloring, a supplement (such as, e.g., a vitamin supplement) or the like.

As will be described in the following disclosure, the first foodstuff deposit D1 is metered in the form of an elongated sheet S (see, e.g., FIG. 17B). The second foodstuff deposit D2 is metered in the form of at least two strips ST1, ST2 (see, e.g., FIG. 17B) upon the elongated sheet S. The elongated sheet S including the at least two strips ST1, ST2 metered there-upon is subsequently divided into a plurality of sheet segments SS (see, e.g., FIG. 17B).

As seen in FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B, the at least two strips ST1, ST2 metered upon the elongated sheet S is numerically defined to include two strips with a first strip being identified at reference numeral ST1 and a second strip identified at reference numeral ST2. Although two strips ST1, ST2 are metered upon the elongated sheet S according to the example described at FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B, the at least two strips ST1, ST2 may be numerically defined to include less than two strips ST1, ST2, or, alternatively, more than two strips ST1, ST2. Therefore, the at least two strips ST1, ST2 may include any desirable number of strips ST1, ST2 such as, for example, one, two, three, fourth, five or “n” strips (whereby “n” is any integer). The second foodstuff deposit D2 of the first strip ST1 may be different than the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the second strip and different than the second foodstuff deposit of an “nth” strip STn (not shown). For example, the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the first strip ST1 may be one of a fruit filling, a cream, a cheese powder, salt, sugar, etc., the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the second strip ST2 may be another of a fruit filling, a cream, a cheese powder, salt, sugar, etc., and the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the “nth” strip STn may be yet another of a fruit filling, a cream, a cheese powder, salt, sugar, etc.

Referring to FIG. 17B, each sheet segment SS is defined by a length Lss. The elongated sheet S and each sheet segment SS is defined by a width Wss. Because each sheet segment SS is derived from the elongated sheet S, and, therefore, are each defined to include the same width dimension Wss, the reference numeral designating the width Wss of the sheet segment SS may be interchangeably utilized when describing the width of the elongated sheet S.

As seen in FIG. 17B, each of the at least two strips ST1, ST2 is defined by a width W_(ST). The width W_(ST) of each of the at least two strips ST1, ST2 is less than the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. Unlike the examples described above at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the width W_(ST) of each of the at least two strips ST1, ST2 seen at FIG. 17B is not approximately equal to one-third of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS; rather, in an example, the width W_(ST) of each of the at least two strips ST1, ST2 may be approximately equal to an amount less than one-third (e.g., approximately one-fifth) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS. As will be described in the following disclosure at FIGS. 18B, 19, 20A, 20B, as a result of the comparatively smaller width W_(ST) of each of the at least two strips ST1, ST2 of the example seen at FIG. 17B when compared to the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST of the previously-described examples at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the layers of the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the baked food product F as seen at FIGS. 18B, 19, 20B may appear to be periodically interrupted by the first foodstuff deposit D1 as opposed to being formed to include a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer that separates an upper first foodstuff deposit layer D1 from a lower first foodstuff deposit later D1.

Furthermore, in order to realize the selective layering of the baked food product F described above at FIGS. 19 and 20A whereby at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2, the first strips ST1 may be selectively metered upon the elongated sheet S at a distance away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S, and, a leading edge of the second strip ST2 may be selectively metered upon the elongated sheet S at a distance away from a trailing edge of the first strip ST1; the distance of the first strip ST1 away from the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S may be defined by a portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS. The portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS may be defined by a distance between the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S and a leading edge ST_(LE) of the first strip ST1. In an example, the distance (i.e., the portion W_(SS-P) of the width Wss of each sheet segment SS) between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the first strip ST1 and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS may be approximately equal to one-fourth of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS. In another example, the distance between the leading edge of the second strip ST2 and the trailing edge of the first strip ST1 may be approximately equal to one-fourth of the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

With reference to FIGS. 17A and 17B, the system 400 may include a first conveyor 412 a having a proximal end 412 a _(P) and a distal end 412 a _(D). The first conveyor 412 a may include a belt 414 a defined by a width 414 aw (see, e.g., FIG. 17B). The belt 414 a may be rotatably supported by a proximal roller 416 a (see, e.g., FIG. 17A) located at the proximal end 412 a _(P) of the first conveyor 412 a and a distal roller 418 a (see, e.g., FIG. 17A) located at the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a.

A motor 420 a (see, e.g., FIG. 17A) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a such that one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a may rotatably drive the belt 414 a according to the direction of arrow A1.Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 414 a relative to the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a, a segment of the belt 414 a may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 422 a.

With reference to FIGS. 17A-17B and 18A-18B, the system 400 may include a second conveyor 412 b having a proximal end 412 b _(P) and a distal end 412 b _(D). The second conveyor 412 b may include a belt 414 b defined by a width 414 bw (see, e.g., FIG. 18A) that is rotatably supported by a proximal roller 416 b (see, e.g., FIG. 18B) located at the proximal end 412 b _(P) of the second conveyor 412 b and a distal roller 418 b (see, e.g., FIG. 18B) located at the distal end 412 b _(D) of the second conveyor 412 b.

A motor 420 b (see, e.g., FIG. 18B) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b such that one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b may rotatably drive the belt 414 b according to the direction of arrow A2. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 414 b relative to the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b, a segment of the belt 414 b may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 422 b.

As seen in FIGS. 17B and 18A, the second conveyor 412 b may be transversely arranged with respect to the first conveyor 12 a. In an example configuration, the second conveyor 12 b is orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor 412 a. Accordingly, the driven direction A2 of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b is orthogonal to the driven direction A1 of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a.

As seen in FIGS. 17A-17B and 18A, the proximal end 412 b _(P) of the second conveyor 412 b may be located near the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a. Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 18A, a portion 422 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b that may be located near the proximal end 412 b _(P) of the second conveyor 412 b may be approximately equal to and may be aligned with the width 414 aw of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a.

As seen in FIG. 17A, a first plane P1 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a. A second plane P2 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. The second plane P2: (1) may not intersect with the first plane P1, (2) may be substantially parallel to the first plane P1, and (3) may be located spatially below the first plane P1 (i.e., the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b may be located below the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a such that sheet segments SS are permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b as the sheet segments SS are transported upon the belt 414 a according to the direction of the arrow A1). As will be described in the following disclosure, by arranging the proximal end 412 b _(P) of the second conveyor 412 b near the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a, and, in conjunction with the arrangement the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b spatially below the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a, successive sheet segments SS may be transported from the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a to the proximal end 412 b _(P) of the second conveyor 412 b in a partially overlapped fashion in order to encapsulate at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as described above.

Referring to FIGS. 17A and 17B, the system 400 may also include a first foodstuff deposit hopper 424. The first foodstuff hopper 424 may be located near the proximal end 412 a _(P) of the first conveyor 412 a and may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a. The first foodstuff hopper 424 may include a sidewall 426 defining a foodstuff-containing cavity 428. Access to the foodstuff-containing cavity 428 is permitted by an upper opening 430 and a lower opening 432. The first foodstuff hopper 424 may also include a pair of metering rollers 434 that are arranged about the lower opening 432.

Prior to being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a, the first foodstuff deposit D1 may be stowed within the foodstuff-containing cavity 428. The first foodstuff deposit D1 is evacuated out of the foodstuff-containing cavity 428 by way of the lower opening 432 of the first foodstuff hopper 424. The motor 420 a may be connected to the pair of metering rollers 434 to impart rotation to the pair of metering rollers 434 for metering the first foodstuff deposit D1 upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a at a controlled rate. The controlled metering rate of the first foodstuff deposit D1 in combination with a speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a rotatably driving the belt 414 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the first foodstuff deposit D1 being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D1).

Referring to FIGS. 17A and 17B, the system 400 may also include a second foodstuff deposit hopper 436. The second foodstuff hopper 436 may be located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper 424 and upstream of the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a. The second foodstuff deposit hopper 436 may be arranged over a portion but not all of the width 414 aw of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a defining the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 metered from the first foodstuff hopper 424. The second foodstuff hopper 436 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a in order to meter the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 in the form of a first strip ST1 at the above-described distance (see, e.g., Wss-_(P)) away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S and a second strip ST2 at a distance away from a trailing edge of the first strip ST1. A metering rate of the second foodstuff deposit D2 from the second foodstuff hopper 436 may be determined by, for example: (1) the physical characteristics (e.g. viscosity) of the second foodstuff deposit D2, (2) an open / partially open state of a foodstuff metering valve 438 of the second foodstuff hopper 436 and (3) the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a rotatably driving the belt 414 a according to the direction of arrow A1.As such, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D2).

The system 400 may also include a foodstuff channel-forming member (not shown but similar to that shown and described above at reference numeral 154 in FIGS. 5A, 5B). The motor 420 a may be connected to the foodstuff channel-forming member to impart rotation to the foodstuff channel-forming member. Alternatively, or, in addition to being connected to the motor 420 a, the foodstuff channel-forming member may be statically arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a at a distance by a support member (not shown). As described above, the foodstuff channel-forming member interferes with the movement of the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 as the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 is transported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a downstream in the direction of the arrow A1 toward the foodstuff channel-forming member. Therefore, the foodstuff channel-forming member forms a second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) (see, e.g., FIGS. 5B, 5B′, 5B″, 5B‴) in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. When the second foodstuff hopper 436 meters the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered into and be substantially contained by the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) formed in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. In a substantially similar manner as described above, when the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 436 may be selectively controlled in order to result in the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(c) being: (1) entirely filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B′), (2) partially filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B″) or (3) over-filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B‴).

Referring to FIGS. 17A and 17B, the system 400 may also include a first slicing blade 440. The first slicing blade 440 may be located downstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper 436 and upstream of the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a. The first slicing blade 440 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon. The first slicing blade 440 is defined by a width W₄₄₀ (see, e.g., FIG. 17B) that may be greater than the width Wss of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIG. 17A, an actuator 442 may be connected to the first slicing blade 440 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the first slicing blade 440 for causing the first slicing blade 440 to penetrate through both of the thickness T_(D1) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the thickness T_(D2) of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The periodic plunging motion of the first slicing bade 440 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a rotatably driving the belt 414 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the elongated sheet S defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon to be cut into a plurality of sheet segments SS with each sheet segment SS being defined by the length Lss.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a rotatably driving the belt 414 a according to the direction of arrow A1 serially transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a. Once each sheet segment SS reaches the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a, each sheet segment SS is permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a toward the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. The portion 422 b ₁ of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b that may be located near the proximal end 412 b _(P) of the second conveyor 412 b and aligned with the width 414 a _(w) of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a at least partially directly receives each sheet segment SS from the distal end 412 a _(D) of the first conveyor 412 a.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b rotatably driving the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b according to the direction of arrow A2 transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 412 b _(D) of the second conveyor 412 b. As seen in FIG. 18B, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b rotatably driving the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b may be selectively controlled (and, in some instances, is referenced from the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 a and the distal roller 418 a rotatably driving the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a) in order to arrange: (1) a first portion of a rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b and (2) a second portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a over: the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a portion of an upper surface D1 _(U) of a first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. As a result, a portion of the sheet segment SS that was previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b may be partially laminated by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b in order to thereby entirely encapsulate the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 defined by: (a) the first foodstuff deposit D1 directly supporting the second foodstuff deposit D2 and the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. Furthermore, a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b is disposed over a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) first foodstuff deposit D1 that: (1) does not support the second foodstuff deposit D2 and (2) is not defined by the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the elongated strip ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIGS. 17B and 18A, regarding the encapsulation of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 described above, in an example, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b rotatably driving the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b may be selectively controlled in order to arrange a leading edge SS_(LE) of a sheet segment SS in the immediate process of being transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b at least directly over, or, alternatively, slightly ahead (as seen in FIGS. 18B and 19 ) of a leading edge ST_(LE) of the first strip ST1 (defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2) of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. As a result, both of the first strip ST1 and the second strip ST2 of each sheet segment SS that had been previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b is covered by a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was subsequently deposited thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 18A and 18B, the system 400 may also include one or more pairs of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) arranged about the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. If more than one pair of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) are included in the system 400, the more than one pair of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) may be referred to as a plurality of compression rollers 444. The one or more pairs of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) arranged about the second conveyor 412 b may be located near the proximal end 412 b _(P) of the second conveyor 412 b and downstream of the portion 422 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b that may be aligned with the width 414 aw of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a.

Each pair compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) includes an upper compression roller 444 _(U) and a lower compression roller 444 _(L). The lower compression roller 444 _(L) may be arranged adjacent the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. The surface of the belt 414 b that the lower compression roller 444 _(L) is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b.

The upper compression roller 444 _(U) may be arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. A gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 444 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b is defined by a distance (see, e.g., D₄₄₄₋₁, D₄₄₄₋₁... D_(444-n)). When more than one pair of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) are included in the system 400, the distance D₄₄₄₋₁, D₄₄₄₋₁... D_(444-n) defining the gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 444 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b for each successive pair of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) may progressively decrease in dimension.

As one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b rotatably drives the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through the gaps or spacings defined by the distance D₄₄₄₋₁, D₄₄₄₋₁... D_(444-n). Because the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are defined by a height dimension that may be approximately equal to but slightly greater than the gap or spacing defined by the first distance D₄₄₄₋₁ associated with the first pair of compression rollers 444 ₁, the upper compression roller 444 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 444 ₁ directly engages the upper surface D1 _(U) (defined by a first foodstuff deposit D1) of each sheet segment SS of the partially overlapped sheet segments SS for compressing the partially overlapped sheet segments SS between the upper compression roller 444 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 444 ₁ and the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b. As the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through one or more subsequent gaps (e.g., D₄₄₄₋₁... D_(444-n)) that progressively decrease in dimension, the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are further compressed in a substantially similar manner as described above.

As a result of being passed through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) described above, most or all of the voids V (see, e.g., FIG. 20A) between opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (i.e., defined by a gap or spacing between a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of an adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1) are negated as a result of the one or more pairs of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) compressing and thereby vertically shifting the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V. When the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is vertically shifted, the portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of the adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1 bind together.

Furthermore, as the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is shifted into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of the first strip ST1 and the second strip ST2 of each sheet segment SS are similarly vertically displaced into an area previously spatially occupied by the underlying (and vertically shifted) first foodstuff deposit D1. Unlike the examples described above where an elongated, pre-baked food product body B of FIGS. 4B, 8B is formed having the second foodstuff deposit D2 of each sheet segment SS ultimately appearing to merge into a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer as a result of the above-described vertical shifting, the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B seen in FIG. 20B ultimately appears as an interrupted layer. The interruption of the layer defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2 results from the width W_(ST) of each of the first strip ST1 and the second strip ST2 of each sheet segment SS being relatively thinner (e.g., approximately equal to an amount less than one-third (e.g., approximately one-fifth) of the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS). As a result, when the one or more pairs of compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂... 444 _(n) compress the partially overlapped sheet segments SS, with reference to FIG. 20A, an upper-most first foodstuff deposit D1 fills an upstream and downstream voids that are adjacent opposite edges of the second foodstuff deposit D2 in order to create the interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B (see, e.g., FIGS. 18B, 19 and 20B).

Referring to FIGS. 20A-20B, the elongated, pre-baked food product body B is generally defined by: (1) a first thickness segment defined by approximately the uppermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, (2) a second thickness segment defined by a portion of one or both of neighboring layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the interrupted second foodstuff deposit D2 defined by the first strip ST1, (3) a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 that supports the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a lowermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, (4) a fourth thickness segment defined by a portion of one or both of neighboring layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 that supports the second foodstuff deposit D2 and the interrupted second foodstuff deposit D2 defined by the second strip ST2 and (5) a fifth thickness defined by one layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1 that supports the second foodstuff deposit D2. As seen in FIG. 20B, a rear surface of the third thickness segment defined by approximately one layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1 is supported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b.

Referring to FIGS. 18A and 18B, the system 400 may also include a second slicing blade 446. The second slicing blade 446 may be located downstream of the one or more compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂...444 _(n) and upstream of the distal end 412 b _(D) of the second conveyor 412 b. The second slicing blade 446 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b that supports the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The second slicing blade 446 is defined by a width W₄₄₆ (see, e.g., FIG. 18A) that may be greater than a width W_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 18A) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B.

Referring to FIG. 18B, an actuator 448 may be connected to the second slicing blade 446 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the second slicing blade 446 for causing the second slicing blade 446 to penetrate through a thickness T_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 18B) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The periodic plunging motion of the second slicing bade 446 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b rotatably driving the belt 414 b according to the direction of arrow A2 results in the elongated, pre-baked food product body B being cut into a plurality of pre-baked food product body units U having any desirable shape, size or dimension.

Referring to FIGS. 18A and 18B, the system 400 may also include an oven 450. The oven 450 may be located downstream of the second slicing blade 446 and upstream of the distal end 412 b _(D) of the second conveyor 412 b. The oven 450 is arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface 422 b of the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b that supports the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U. As one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b rotatably drives the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U are passed through the oven 450 in order to bake the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U.

Upon the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U exiting the oven 450 according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U may then be referred to as baked food products F. As one or both of the proximal roller 416 b and the distal roller 418 b rotatably drives the belt 414 b of the second conveyor 412 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the baked food products F may fall with the assistance of gravity off of the distal end 412 b _(D) of the second conveyor 412 b for subsequent processing or packaging.

Referring to FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B, the system 400 may also include a controller 452. The controller 452 may be a computing resource such as, for example, a digital computer, and may include, but is not limited to: one or more electronic digital processors or central processing units (CPUs) in communication with one or more storage resources (e.g., memory, flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase change memory (PCM), and/or disk drives having spindles)).

The controller 452 may be communicatively coupled (i.e., wirelessly connected or hardwired) to any of the above-described components (e.g., components 420 a, 420 b, 434, 438, 442, 444, 448, 450) of the system 400 in order to control any of the components. For example, the controller 452 may control the motors 420 a / 420 b for controlling the rate of rotation of the one or both of the proximal roller 416 a / 416 b and the distal roller 418 a / 418 b that rotatably drives the belt 414 a / 414 b of the first conveyor 412 a / the second conveyor 412 b. In another example, the controller 452 may control the rotation of the pair of metering rollers 434 in order to control the rate of the amount of the first foodstuff deposit D1 being metered upon the foodstuff receiving surface 422 a of the belt 414 a of the first conveyor 412 a. In yet another example, the controller 452 may control an open / partially open / closed state of the foodstuff metering valve 438 of the second foodstuff hopper 436 in order to control the rate of the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1. In an example, the controller 452 may control the state of the actuator 442 / 448 for controlling the frequency of the periodic plunging motion of the first slicing blade 440 / the second slicing blade 446. In another example, the controller 452 may control the motor 420 b for controlling a rate of rotation of one or more of the upper compression roller 444 _(U) and the lower compression roller 444 _(L) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 444 ₁, 444 ₂... 444 _(n). In yet another example, the controller 452 may control the on state, off state and/or temperature of the oven 450.

Referring to FIGS. 21A-21B and 22A-22B, an exemplary food product manufacturing system is shown generally at 500. FIGS. 21A-21B illustrates a first portion of the food product manufacturing system 500. FIGS. 22A-22B illustrates a second portion of the food product manufacturing system 500. The food product manufacturing system 500 is hereinafter referred to as “the system.”

The system 500 manufactures a baked food product F (see, e.g., FIGS. 22A-22B). The baked food product F is derived from at least a first foodstuff deposit D1 (see, e.g., FIGS. 21A, 21B) and a second foodstuff deposit D2 (see, e.g., FIGS. 21A, 21B). The baked food product F may be defined by several layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (e.g., approximately three layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as seen in FIGS. 23 and 24A) and at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 (e.g. approximately one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 as seen in FIGS. 23 and 24A). At least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The first foodstuff deposit D1 may include dough. The second foodstuff deposit D2 may include a filling (such as, e.g., a fruit filling), a food coloring, a supplement (such as, e.g., a vitamin supplement) or the like.

As will be described in the following disclosure, the first foodstuff deposit D1 is metered in the form of an elongated sheet S (see, e.g., FIG. 21B). The second foodstuff deposit D2 is metered in the form of a row of periodically interrupted strips ST (see, e.g., FIG. 21B) upon the elongated sheet S. The elongated sheet S including the row of periodically interrupted strips ST metered there-upon is subsequently divided into a plurality of sheet segments SS (see, e.g., FIG. 21B).

As seen in FIGS. 21A-21B, 22A-22B, the row of periodically interrupted strips ST metered upon the elongated sheet S is numerically defined to include one row. Although one row of periodically interrupted strips ST is metered upon the elongated sheet S according to the example described at FIGS. 21A-21B, 22A-22B, the row of periodically interrupted strips ST may be numerically defined to include more than one row of periodically interrupted strips ST (see, e.g., FIGS. 17A-17B, 18A-18B where a first strip ST1 (i.e., a “first row”) and a second strip ST2 (i.e., a “second row”) are metered upon an elongated sheet S). Therefore, the row of periodically interrupted strips ST may include any desirable number of rows of periodically interrupted strips ST such as, for example, one, two, three, fourth, five or “n” rows of periodically interrupted strips (whereby “n” is any integer).

Referring to FIG. 21B, each sheet segment SS is defined by a length L_(ss). The elongated sheet S and each sheet segment SS is defined by a width W_(ss). Because each sheet segment SS is derived from the elongated sheet S, and, therefore, are each defined to include the same width dimension W_(ss), the reference numeral designating the width W_(ss) of the sheet segment SS may be interchangeably utilized when describing the width of the elongated sheet S.

As seen in FIG. 21B, the row of periodically interrupted strips ST is defined by a width W_(ST). The width W_(ST) of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST is less than the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS. Unlike the examples described above at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the width W_(ST) of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST seen at FIG. 21B is not approximately equal to one-third of the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS; rather, in an example, the width W_(ST) of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST may be approximately equal to an amount less than one-third (e.g., approximately one-fifth) of the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS. As will be described in the following disclosure at FIGS. 22B, 23, 24A, 24B, as a result of the comparatively smaller width W_(ST) of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST of the example seen at FIG. 21B when compared to the width W_(ST) of the at least one strip ST of the previously-described examples at FIGS. 1B and 5B, the layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the baked food product F seen at FIGS. 23 and 24B may appear to be periodically interrupted by the first foodstuff deposit D1 as opposed to being formed to include a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer that separates an upper first foodstuff deposit layer D1 from a lower first foodstuff deposit later D1.

Furthermore, in order to realize the selective layering of the baked food product F described above at FIGS. 23 and 24A whereby at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 encapsulates the at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2, the row of periodically interrupted strips ST may be selectively metered upon the elongated sheet S at a distance away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. The distance away from the leading edge S_(LE) may be defined by a portion W_(SS-P) of the width W_(ss) of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS. The portion W_(SS-P) of the width W_(ss) of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS may be defined by a distance between the leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S and a leading edge ST_(LE) of each strip of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST. In an example, the distance (i.e., the portion W_(SS-P) of the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS) between the leading edge ST_(LE) of each strip of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS may be approximately equal to one-fourth of the width W_(ss) of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

With reference to FIGS. 21A and 21B, the system 500 may include a first conveyor 512 a having a proximal end 512 a _(P) and a distal end 512 a _(D). The first conveyor 512 a may include a belt 514 a defined by a width 514 aw (see, e.g., FIG. 21B). The belt 514 a may be rotatably supported by a proximal roller 516 a (see, e.g., FIG. 21A) located at the proximal end 512 a _(P) of the first conveyor 512 a and a distal roller 518 a (see, e.g., FIG. 21A) located at the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a.

A motor 520 a (see, e.g., FIG. 21A) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a such that one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a may rotatably drive the belt 514 a according to the direction of arrow A1. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 514 a relative to the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a, a segment of the belt 514 a may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 522 a.

With reference to FIGS. 21A-21B and 22A-22B, the system 500 may include a second conveyor 512 b having a proximal end 512 b _(P) and a distal end 512 b _(D). The second conveyor 512 b may include a belt 514 b defined by a width 514 bw (see, e.g., FIG. 22A) that is rotatably supported by a proximal roller 516 b (see, e.g., FIG. 22B) located at the proximal end 512 b _(P) of the second conveyor 512 b and a distal roller 518 b (see, e.g., FIG. 22B) located at the distal end 512 b _(D) of the second conveyor 512 b.

A motor 520 b (see, e.g., FIG. 22B) may be connected to one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b in order to impart rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b such that one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b may rotatably drive the belt 514 b according to the direction of arrow A2. Depending upon the rotated state of the belt 514 b relative to the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b, a segment of the belt 514 b may generally define a foodstuff receiving surface 522 b.

As seen in FIGS. 21B and 22A, the second conveyor 512 b may be transversely arranged with respect to the first conveyor 12 a. In an example configuration, the second conveyor 12 b is orthogonally arranged with respect to the first conveyor 512 a. Accordingly, the driven direction A2 of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b is orthogonal to the driven direction A1 of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a.

As seen in FIGS. 21A-21B and 22A, the proximal end 512 b _(P) of the second conveyor 512 b may be located near the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a. Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 22A, a portion 522 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b that may be located near the proximal end 512 b _(P) of the second conveyor 512 b may be approximately equal to and may be aligned with the width 514 aw of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a.

As seen in FIG. 21A, a first plane P1 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a. A second plane P2 may be aligned with and may extend across the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. The second plane P2: (1) may not intersect with the first plane P1, (2) may be substantially parallel to the first plane P1, and (3) may be located spatially below the first plane P1 (i.e., the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b may be located below the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a such that sheet segments SS are permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b as the sheet segments SS are transported upon the belt 514 a according to the direction of the arrow A1). As will be described in the following disclosure, by arranging the proximal end 512 b _(P) of the second conveyor 512 b near the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a, and, in conjunction with the arrangement the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b spatially below the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a, successive sheet segments SS may be transported from the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a to the proximal end 512 b _(P) of the second conveyor 512 b in a partially overlapped fashion in order to encapsulate at least one layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 as described above.

Referring to FIGS. 21A and 21B, the system 500 may also include a first foodstuff deposit hopper 524. The first foodstuff hopper 524 may be located near the proximal end 512 a _(P) of the first conveyor 512 a and may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a. The first foodstuff hopper 524 may include a sidewall 526 defining a foodstuff-containing cavity 528. Access to the foodstuff-containing cavity 528 is permitted by an upper opening 530 and a lower opening 532. The first foodstuff hopper 524 may also include a pair of metering rollers 534 that are arranged about the lower opening 532.

Prior to being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a, the first foodstuff deposit D1 may be stowed within the foodstuff-containing cavity 528. The first foodstuff deposit D1 is evacuated out of the foodstuff-containing cavity 528 by way of the lower opening 532 of the first foodstuff hopper 524. The motor 520 a may be connected to the pair of metering rollers 534 to impart rotation to the pair of metering rollers 534 for metering the first foodstuff deposit D1 upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a at a controlled rate. The controlled metering rate of the first foodstuff deposit D1 in combination with a speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a rotatably driving the belt 514 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the first foodstuff deposit D1 being arranged upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D1).

Referring to FIGS. 21A and 21B, the system 500 may also include a second foodstuff deposit hopper 536. The second foodstuff hopper 536 may be located downstream of the first foodstuff deposit hopper 524 and upstream of the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a. The second foodstuff deposit hopper 536 may be arranged over a portion but not all of the width 514 aw of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a defining the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 metered from the first foodstuff hopper 524. The second foodstuff hopper 536 may be selectively spatially arranged over the portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a in order to meter the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 at the above-described distance (see, e.g., W_(SS-P)) away from a leading edge S_(LE) of the elongated sheet S. A metering rate of the second foodstuff deposit D2 defined by the row of periodically interrupted strips ST from the second foodstuff hopper 536 may be determined by, for example: (1) the physical characteristics (e.g. viscosity) of the second foodstuff deposit D2, (2) an open state, a partially open state or a closed state of a foodstuff metering valve 538 of the second foodstuff hopper 536 and (3) the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a rotatably driving the belt 514 a according to the direction of arrow A1. As such, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1 in a substantially uniform thickness T_(D2). Furthermore, in order to form the row of periodically interrupted strips ST defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2, the foodstuff metering valve 538 is repeated oscillated in an open state and a closed state.

The system 500 may also include a foodstuff channel-forming member (not shown but similar to that shown and described above at reference numeral 154 in FIGS. 5A, 5B). The motor 520 a may be connected to the foodstuff channel-forming member to impart rotation to the foodstuff channel-forming member. Alternatively, or, in addition to being connected to the motor 520 a, the foodstuff channel-forming member may be statically arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a at a distance by a support member (not shown). As described above, the foodstuff channel-forming member interferes with the movement of the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 as the metered first foodstuff deposit D1 is transported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a downstream in the direction of the arrow A1 toward the foodstuff channel-forming member. Therefore, the foodstuff channel-forming member forms a second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) (see, e.g., FIGS. 5B, 5B′, 5B″, 5B‴) in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. When the second foodstuff hopper 536 meters the second foodstuff deposit D2 upon the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1, the second foodstuff deposit D2 may be metered into and be substantially contained by the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) formed in the upper surface D1 _(U) of the first foodstuff deposit D1. In a substantially similar manner as described above, when the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered by the second foodstuff hopper 536 may be selectively controlled in order to result in the second-foodstuff-deposit-receiving-channel D1 _(C) being: (1) entirely filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B′), (2) partially filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B″) or (3) over-filled with the second foodstuff deposit D2 (as seen in, e.g., FIG. 5B‴).

Referring to FIGS. 21A and 21B, the system 500 may also include a first slicing blade 540. The first slicing blade 540 may be located downstream of the second foodstuff deposit hopper 536 and upstream of the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a. The first slicing blade 540 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a that supports the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon. The first slicing blade 540 is defined by a width W₅₄₀ (see, e.g., FIG. 21B) that may be greater than the width W_(ss) of the elongated sheet S / each sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIG. 21A, an actuator 542 may be connected to the first slicing blade 540 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the first slicing blade 540 for causing the first slicing blade 540 to penetrate through both of the thickness T_(D1) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the thickness T_(D2) of the second foodstuff deposit D2. The periodic plunging motion of the first slicing bade 540 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a rotatably driving the belt 514 a according to the direction of arrow A1 results in the elongated sheet S defined by the first foodstuff deposit D1 including the second foodstuff deposit D2 metered thereupon to be cut into a plurality of sheet segments SS with each sheet segment SS being defined by the length Lss.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a rotatably driving the belt 514 a according to the direction of arrow A1 serially transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a. Once each sheet segment SS reaches the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a, each sheet segment SS is permitted to fall with the assistance of gravity from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a toward the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. The portion 522 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b that may be located near the proximal end 512 b _(P) of the second conveyor 512 b and aligned with the width 514 aw of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a at least partially directly receives each sheet segment SS from the distal end 512 a _(D) of the first conveyor 512 a.

The speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b rotatably driving the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b according to the direction of arrow A2 transports each sheet segment SS toward the distal end 512 b _(D) of the second conveyor 512 b. As seen in FIG. 22B, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b rotatably driving the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b may be selectively controlled (and, in some instances, is referenced from the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 a and the distal roller 518 a rotatably driving the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a) in order to arrange: (1) a first portion of a rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b and (2) a second portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS transported from foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a over: the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a portion of an upper surface D1 _(U) of a first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. As a result, a portion of the sheet segment SS that was previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 214 b of the second conveyor 512 b may be partially laminated by the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b in order to thereby entirely encapsulate the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 defined by: (a) the first foodstuff deposit D1 directly supporting the second foodstuff deposit D2 and the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. Furthermore, a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of the sheet segment SS that is subsequently transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b is disposed over a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) first foodstuff deposit D1 that: (1) does not support the second foodstuff deposit D2 and (2) is not defined by the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS between the leading edge ST_(LE) of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST and the leading edge SS_(LE) of the sheet segment SS.

Referring to FIGS. 21B and 22A, regarding the encapsulation of the second foodstuff deposit D2 between at least two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 described above, in an example, the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b rotatably driving the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b may be selectively controlled in order to arrange a leading edge SS_(LE) of a sheet segment SS in the immediate process of being transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b at least directly over, or, alternatively, slightly ahead (as seen in FIGS. 22B and 23 ) of a leading edge ST_(LE) of a leading strip of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST (defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2) of a sheet segment SS that was immediately previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. As a result, the row of periodically interrupted strips ST of each sheet segment SS that had been previously transported from the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b is covered by a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 of a sheet segment SS that was subsequently deposited thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 22A and 22B, the system 500 may also include one or more pairs of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) arranged about the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. If more than one pair of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) are included in the system 500, the more than one pair of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) may be referred to as a plurality of compression rollers 544. The one or more pairs of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) arranged about the second conveyor 512 b may be located near the proximal end 512 b _(P) of the second conveyor 512 b and downstream of the portion 522 b _(P) of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b that may be aligned with the width 514 aw of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a.

Each pair compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) includes an upper compression roller 544 _(U) and a lower compression roller 544 _(L). The lower compression roller 544 _(L) may be arranged adjacent the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. The surface of the belt 514 b that the lower compression roller 544 _(L) is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b.

The upper compression roller 544 _(U) may be arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. A gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 544 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b is defined by a distance (see, e.g., D₅₄₄₋₁, D₅₄₄₋₁... D_(544-n)). When more than one pair of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) are included in the system 500, the distance D₅₄₄₋₁, D₅₄₄₋₁... D_(544-n) defining the gap or spacing between the upper compression roller 544 _(U) and the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b for each successive pair of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) may progressively decrease in dimension.

As one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b rotatably drives the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through the gaps or spacings defined by the distance D₅₄₄₋₁, D₅₄₄₋₁... D_(544-n). Because the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are defined by a height dimension that may be approximately equal to but slightly greater than the gap or spacing defined by the first distance D₅₄₄₋₁ associated with the first pair of compression rollers 544 ₁, the upper compression roller 544 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 544 ₁ directly engages the upper surface D1 _(U) (defined by a first foodstuff deposit D1) of each sheet segment SS of the partially overlapped sheet segments SS for compressing the partially overlapped sheet segments SS between the upper compression roller 544 _(U) of the first pair of compression rollers 544 ₁ and the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b. As the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are passed through one or more subsequent gaps (e.g., D₅₄₄₋₁... D_(544-n)) that progressively decrease in dimension, the partially overlapped sheet segments SS are further compressed in a substantially similar manner as described above.

As a result of being passed through the one or more gaps or spacings defined by the one or more pairs of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) described above, most or all of the voids V, Vu, V_(D) (see, e.g., FIG. 24A) between opposing layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 (i.e., defined by a gap or spacing between a portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and a portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of an adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1) are negated as a result of the one or more pairs of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) compressing and thereby vertically shifting the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, V_(U), V_(D). When the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is vertically shifted, the portion of the rear surface D1 _(R) of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the portion of the upper surface D1 _(U) of the adjacent first foodstuff deposit D1 bind together.

Furthermore, as the material defining the first foodstuff deposit D1 is shifted into the gap or spacing defined by the voids V, Vu, V_(D), the second foodstuff deposit D2 in the form of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST of each sheet segment SS is similarly vertically displaced into an area previously spatially occupied by the underlying (and vertically shifted) first foodstuff deposit D1. Unlike the examples described above where an elongated, pre-baked food product body B of FIGS. 4B, 8B is formed having the second foodstuff deposit D2 of each sheet segment SS ultimately appearing to merge into a substantially constant, uninterrupted layer as a result of the above-described vertical shifting, the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B seen in FIG. 24B ultimately appears as an interrupted layer. The interruption of the layer defined by the second foodstuff deposit D2 results from one or both of the width W_(ST) of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST of each sheet segment SS being relatively thinner (e.g., approximately equal to an amount less than one-third (e.g., approximately one-fifth) of the width W_(ss) of each sheet segment SS) and the distance between each strip of the row of periodically interrupted strips ST. As a result, when the one or more pairs of compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) compress the partially overlapped sheet segments SS, with reference to FIG. 24A, an upper-most first foodstuff deposit D1 fills an upstream void Vu (see, e.g., FIG. 24A) and a downstream void V_(D) (see, e.g., FIG. 24A) that are adjacent opposite edges of the second foodstuff deposit D2 in order to create the interrupted layer of the second foodstuff deposit D2 of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B (see, e.g., FIGS. 22B, 23 and 24B).

Referring to FIGS. 24A-24B, the elongated, pre-baked food product body B is generally defined by: (1) a first thickness segment defined by approximately the uppermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1, (2) a second thickness segment defined by a portion of the uppermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1 and the interrupted second foodstuff deposit D2 and (3) a third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 that supports the second foodstuff deposit D2 and a lowermost layer of the first foodstuff deposit D1. As seen in FIG. 24B, a rear surface of the third thickness segment defined by approximately two layers of the first foodstuff deposit D1 is supported upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b.

Referring to FIGS. 22A and 22B, the system 500 may also include a second slicing blade 546. The second slicing blade 546 may be located downstream of the one or more compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n) and upstream of the distal end 512 b _(D) of the second conveyor 512 b. The second slicing blade 546 may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b that supports the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The second slicing blade 546 is defined by a width W₅₄₆ (see, e.g., FIG. 22A) that may be greater than a width W_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 22A) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B.

Referring to FIG. 22B, an actuator 548 may be connected to the second slicing blade 546 in order to impart a periodic plunging motion to the second slicing blade 546 for causing the second slicing blade 546 to penetrate through a thickness T_(B) (see, e.g., FIG. 22B) of the elongated, pre-baked food product body B. The periodic plunging motion of the second slicing bade 546 in combination with the speed of rotation of one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b rotatably driving the belt 514 b according to the direction of arrow A2 results in the elongated, pre-baked food product body B being cut into a plurality of pre-baked food product body units U having any desirable shape, size or dimension.

Referring to FIGS. 22A and 22B, the system 500 may also include an oven 550. The oven 550 may be located downstream of the second slicing blade 546 and upstream of the distal end 512 b _(D) of the second conveyor 512 b. The oven 550 is arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface 522 b of the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b that supports the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U. As one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b rotatably drives the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U are passed through the oven 550 in order to bake the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U.

Upon the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U exiting the oven 550 according to the direction of arrow A2, the plurality of pre-baked food product body units U may then be referred to as baked food products F. As one or both of the proximal roller 516 b and the distal roller 518 b rotatably drives the belt 514 b of the second conveyor 512 b according to the direction of arrow A2, the baked food products F may fall with the assistance of gravity off of the distal end 512 b _(D) of the second conveyor 512 b for subsequent processing or packaging.

Referring to FIGS. 21A-21B, 22A-22B, the system 500 may also include a controller 552. The controller 552 may be a computing resource such as, for example, a digital computer, and may include, but is not limited to: one or more electronic digital processors or central processing units (CPUs) in communication with one or more storage resources (e.g., memory, flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase change memory (PCM), and/or disk drives having spindles)).

The controller 552 may be communicatively coupled (i.e., wirelessly connected or hardwired) to any of the above-described components (e.g., components 520 a, 520 b, 534, 538, 542, 544, 548, 550) of the system 500 in order to control any of the components. For example, the controller 552 may control the motors 520 a / 520 b for controlling the rate of rotation of the one or both of the proximal roller 516 a / 516 b and the distal roller 518 a / 518 b that rotatably drives the belt 514 a / 514 b of the first conveyor 512 a / the second conveyor 512 b. In another example, the controller 552 may control the rotation of the pair of metering rollers 534 in order to control the rate of the amount of the first foodstuff deposit D1 being metered upon the foodstuff receiving surface 522 a of the belt 514 a of the first conveyor 512 a. In yet another example, the controller 552 may control an open / partially open / closed state of the foodstuff metering valve 538 of the second foodstuff hopper 536 in order to control the rate of the amount of the second foodstuff deposit D2 being metered upon the first foodstuff deposit D1. In an example, the controller 552 may control the state of the actuator 542 / 548 for controlling the frequency of the periodic plunging motion of the first slicing blade 540 / the second slicing blade 546. In another example, the controller 552 may control the motor 520 b for controlling a rate of rotation of one or more of the upper compression roller 544 _(U) and the lower compression roller 544 _(L) of the one or more pairs compression rollers 544 ₁, 544 ₂... 544 _(n). In yet another example, the controller 552 may control the on state, off state and/or temperature of the oven 550.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Moreover, subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them. The terms “data processing apparatus”, “computing device” and “computing processor” encompass all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus.

A computer program (also known as an application, program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, to name just a few. Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, one or more aspects of the disclosure can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, or touch screen for displaying information to the user and optionally a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user by sending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is used by the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on a user’s client device in response to requests received from the web browser.

One or more aspects of the disclosure can be implemented in a computing system that includes a backend component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a frontend component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such backend, middleware, or frontend components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In some implementations, a server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a client device (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving user input from a user interacting with the client device). Data generated at the client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can be received from the client device at the server.

While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular implementations of the disclosure. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multi-tasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. 

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 41. A food product manufacturing system comprising: a first conveyor having a proximal end and a distal end; a first foodstuff hopper located near the proximal end of the first conveyor and arranged over a portion of a foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the first conveyor; a second foodstuff hopper located downstream of the first foodstuff hopper and upstream of the distal end of the first conveyor, wherein the second foodstuff hopper may be selectively spatially arranged over a portion but not all of a width of the belt of the first conveyor defining the foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the first conveyor; and a first slicing blade located downstream of the second foodstuff hopper and upstream of the distal end of the first conveyor, wherein the first slicing blade may be arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the first conveyor.
 42. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 41 further including: a foodstuff channel-forming member located downstream of the first foodstuff hopper and upstream of the second foodstuff hopper, wherein the foodstuff channel-forming member may be aligned with the second foodstuff hopper such that the foodstuff channel-forming member may be selectively spatially arranged over a portion but not all of a width of the belt of the first conveyor, wherein the foodstuff channel-forming member is arranged at a distance away from the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the first conveyor.
 43. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 41, wherein the first foodstuff hopper may include a sidewall defining a foodstuff-containing cavity, wherein access to the foodstuff-containing cavity is permitted by an upper opening and a lower opening, wherein the first foodstuff hopper includes a pair of metering rollers that are arranged about the lower opening.
 44. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 41, wherein the second foodstuff hopper includes a foodstuff metering valve.
 45. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 41, wherein the first slicing blade is connected to an actuator.
 46. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 41, wherein the belt of the first conveyor is rotatably supported by a proximal roller located at the proximal end of the first conveyor and a distal roller located at the distal end of the first conveyor.
 47. The food product manufacturing system of claim 41, further comprising: a second conveyor having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the second conveyor is transversely arranged with respect to the first conveyor and wherein the proximal end of the second conveyor is arranged proximate the distal end of the first conveyor, wherein a first plane aligned with and extending across the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the first conveyor is located spatially above a second plane aligned with and extending across a foodstuff receiving surface of a belt of the second conveyor, wherein the second plane is located spatially below the first plane, wherein a driven direction of the belt of the first conveyor is transverse to a driven direction of the belt of the second conveyor.
 48. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 47 further including: one or more pairs of compression rollers arranged about the belt of the second conveyor, wherein the one or more pairs of compression rollers may be located near the proximal end of the second conveyor and downstream of a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor that is aligned with the width of the belt of the first conveyor.
 49. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 48, wherein each pair compression rollers of the one or more pairs of compression rollers includes: an upper compression roller, and a lower compression roller, wherein the lower compression roller is arranged adjacent the belt of the second conveyor, wherein a surface of the belt of the second conveyor to which the lower compression roller is arranged adjacent is opposite the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor, wherein the upper compression roller is arranged in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor, wherein a gap or spacing between the upper compression roller and the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor is defined by a distance.
 50. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 49, wherein the one or more pairs of compression rollers includes more than one pair of compression rollers, wherein the distance between the upper compression roller and the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor of adj acent pairs of compression rollers of the more than one pair of compression rollers progressively decreases in dimension.
 51. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 48 further including: a second slicing blade is located downstream of the one or more pairs of compression rollers and upstream of the distal end of the second conveyor, wherein the second slicing blade is arranged over a portion of the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor.
 52. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 51, wherein the second slicing blade is connected to an actuator.
 53. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 51 further including: an oven located downstream of the second slicing blade and upstream of the distal end of the second conveyor, wherein the oven arranged about the foodstuff receiving surface of the belt of the second conveyor.
 54. The food product manufacturing system according to claim 47, wherein the belt of the second conveyor is rotatably supported by a proximal roller located at the proximal end of the second conveyor and a distal roller located at the distal end of the second conveyor. 